Bucks Writs - Summer 2018 - 24

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ADVANCING DEMOCRACY:
Trends In Election Policy
- By Kathy Boockvar

N

ot to be sentimental, but why not?

The reasons for these differences are many, but I will focus
here on three overarching issues: 1) confidence that our
vote will be counted accurately and securely; 2) ease of
voter registration and voting; and 3) belief that our vote
matters and our voice will be heard.

As I write this article on the Fourth of July, I think -

what could be more patriotic than writing about policies to
advance democracy on the birthday of our democracy?
I'll start with the disheartening but then shift to the motiva-

I. Voter Confidence in Election Security

tional. Among 32 of the world's most developed democratic
countries, the U.S. ranks 26th for voter turnout; only
1

Sadly, a majority of Americans believe it is very or somewhat
likely that a foreign government will try to interfere in this
year's elections, according to a new Axios/ SurveyMonkey
poll.4 Perhaps even more distressing, fewer Americans say
they feel "very confident" that votes will be accurately
counted - only 24% - down from about 35% just two
years ago.5 Americans feel greater trust and confidence in
their vote being counted when using paper ballot voting

about 60% of our voting-eligible population turned out
to vote in 2016.2 Additionally, a much smaller percentage
of American voting-age citizens are registered to vote
as compared to nearly all other developed democratic
countries: about 70% of US voting-age citizens were
registered in 2016, contrasted with 91% in Canada and the
United Kingdom, 96% in Sweden, and 99% in Slovakia.3
1 U.S. Trails Most Developed Countries in Voter Turnout, Pew
Research Center (May 21, 2018), http://www.pewresearch.org/
fact-tank/2018/05/21/u-s-voter-turnout-trails-most-developedcountries/
2 America Goes to the Polls, https://www.nonprofitvote.org/
documents/2017/03/america-goes-polls-2016.pdf/

3 U.S. Trails Most Developed Countries in Voter Turnout.
4 Axios/Survey Monkey Poll, https://www.axios.com/exclusivepoll-majority-expects-foreign-meddling-in-midterms-515c9556be3e-4d51-b575-ff3ae47af205.html
5 Id.
24

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/05/21/u-s-voter-turnout-trails-most-developed-countries/ https://www.axios.com/exclusive-poll-majority-expects-foreign-meddling-in-midterms-515c9556-be3e-4d51-b575-ff3ae47af205.html http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/05/21/u-s-voter-turnout-trails-most-developed-countries/ https://www.axios.com/exclusive-poll-majority-expects-foreign-meddling-in-midterms-515c9556-be3e-4d51-b575-ff3ae47af205.html http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/05/21/u-s-voter-turnout-trails-most-developed-countries/ https://www.axios.com/exclusive-poll-majority-expects-foreign-meddling-in-midterms-515c9556-be3e-4d51-b575-ff3ae47af205.html https://www.nonprofitvote.org/documents/2017/03/america-goes-polls-2016.pdf/ https://www.nonprofitvote.org/documents/2017/03/america-goes-polls-2016.pdf/

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Bucks Writs - Summer 2018