THURSDAY, NOV. 1, 2012
ASUHERALD.COM
PAGE 4
Candidates face student apathy
Photo illustration by Xinzhong Zhao | Staff Photographer
The 2008 presidential election had the highest voter participation of any election since 1960, and still 80 million eligible American Voters sat on the sideline and did not vote. Curtis Gans, director of the non-partisan Center for the Study of the American Electorate, predicted that number will rise significantly this year. He said, “(Turnout could) ebb to levels similar to 2000, when only 54.2% of those eligible to vote did. Even that was up a bit from 1996, which had the lowest turnout since 1924.” This year, a projected 90 million Americans who are eligible to vote won’t, but why is this? In recent years, the Caltech/MIT Voting Technology Project has made use of a surprisingly simple question in the Census Bureau voting surveys. The Census Bureau has asked registered nonvoters to state why
Story by: J.J. Thompson
it is they don’t vote, and the answers to this question are very telling about why Americans who are otherwise registered do not vote. Some of the primary stated reasons for not voting are a lack of interest, which received 13 percent, or a dislike of the candidates or issues, which also received 13 percent. This means more than a quarter of registered nonvoters in 2008 didn’t vote because they weren’t interested or didn’t like their choices. Fifteen percent of nonvoters cited illness or disability as their reason for not voting, especially among older registered nonvoters. Other nonvoters were too busy or had conflicting schedules, 17 percent, which makes up about a third of the registered nonvoters. Of the remainder, many had some kind of logistical problem with the voting pro-
cess. Six percent had problems with their voter registration, and 3 percent did not have convenient polling places. Another 3 percent had some sort of transportation problem, and 0.2 percent reported that bad weather conditions kept them from the polls on Election Day. Many ASU students feel disconnected from the political process. Alexandra Williams, a freshman entertainment management student of Springdale, said “I chose to not register simply because I was raised in a family that never put much emphasis on voting or being involved with politics.” She went on to say that this lack of political discussion with her family and peers has left her still open on many of her stances and unable to differentiate between the two presidential candidates. Brittney Jetton, a junior nursing major of Wynne, thinks the campaigns aren’t making
themselves approachable enough. “I’m not as informed as I should be about it, but the debates and the news don’t seem to be about issues that are relevant to me,” she said. Many other commentators and political and communications analysts have said that the candidates in this election haven’t done enough work to show separation between their visions for the country. Chris Harper, a communications professor at ASU, said, “The lack of clear articulation leaves people thinking that there isn’t enough difference to really make a decision, so why vote?” A student can have no impact on the outcome of the election without casting a vote. Although early voting has already begun, Election Day is Nov. 6 and is a prevalent way to let one’s voice be heard on a local and national level.
Women voters fear backward thinking Story by: Tanya Giraldo
Election Day is fast approaching, and women have become a prime target for votes this election season. Many women of ASU are aware of this. “Women are a crucial voting block in this election,” Barbara Warner, assistant professor of political science, said. “There are gender specifics showing up as key issues. Women are very much a force to be reckoned with.” Some of the issues that are of interest to women voters range from equality in the workforce to women’s health. “There are so many,” Catherine Reese, associate professor of political science, said. Reese said equal pay is a prevalent issue. “Why is the U.S. still making 77 cents to the dollar?” she asked. Tess Wheetly, secretary of ASU College Republicans, shares the same opinion as Reese. “Especially when you look into maternity leave and things like that, ” Wheetly said. “I feel like if you go and interview for a job and you may be pregnant, that still may be something that you don’t want to mention because that may hurt your chances of getting hired.” Amy Buzby, assistant professor of political science, said a lot of women are more concerned about the economy this year. “There is an increasing shift in our society where women tend to be either the primary breadwinners in the house or co-breadwinners,” Buzby said. “Women’s jobs are an increasingly important issue.” Kayla Bradbury, director of the women’s outreach division in the Young Democrats organization, said due to the inequality of pay, there is still discrimination against women. “If that is not a huge indicator of discrimination, then I don’t know what is,” Bradbury said. “It’s weird saying that in 2012.” According to a poll conducted between Oct. 5-11 by USA Today and Gallup, women in swing states believed jobs took a 19 percent importance while abortion was at 39 percent.
“Reproductive health has obviously been an important issue to women across the country and I think that for a lot of female voters, they’re seeing a certain difference between the candidates,” Buzby said. “A lot of women are clearly making their choice based on that issue as well.” Warner said there aren’t many women holding as many executive positions as men, and women are not as well represented in a political structure. “There are 100 members in the general assembly for Arkansas,” Warner said. “Only 22 of them are women.” Congress has 535 seats, with 90 of those held by women, according to the Center for American Women and Politics. “If you look at the whole of Congress, 2 percent of Congress has been female,” Reese said. “I mean it’s changing, but it’s so, so slow.” Buzby said a key factor in the election is the gender gap. “Roughly two-thirds of women vote Democrat and it is very consistent and if anything it seems to be increasing,” Buzby said. “Women have a set of concerns that tend to draw them towards the Democratic Party platform.” With the Lily Ledbetter Act, female voters are seeing some progress with fair pay, but voters want to know progress will continue. “I think the candidates need to address women’s issues directly, and they need to make an effort to connect to women voters and show that they are making the best attempt to understand the unique issues that face women,” Buzby said. Comments such as Indiana Republican Senate candidate Richard Mourdock’s, who declared he opposes aborting pregnancies conceived in rape because “it is something that God intended to happen,” as well as Romney’s popular “binders full of women,” have also caught the attention of female voters. “They are going back to the stone ages with this dialog,” Warner said. “I think a lot of women felt sort of dehumanized or at least sort of overlooked by that language. It didn’t really seem to capture a sense of real women and their real con-
cerns,” Buzby said. “There is still the argument in 2012 of women not being able to perform the same as men,” Bradburry said. “It’s ludicrous.” “In the third debate of this election cycle, Romney made several missteps when he talked about women in very generic terms,” Buzby said. The candidates need to acknowledge that there is a large pay gap and discrimination if they want the female vote, said Reese. “You can’t explain the small amount of difference in women’s pay by particular career choices and having to have time off to take care of children,” Reese said. “Sixty percent of the gap is completely unexplained.” Female faculty and students agree there are many issues that need to be better addressed in order to get their vote. “They need to focus on the economy. I think that is one of the biggest issues that we have in this election,” Wheetly said. “Without the economy, you can’t focus on the equal opportunities in jobs if you don’t even have jobs.” “It’s not just issues for women it’s for anyone who is a woman, knows a woman, cares about a woman, loves a woman as in a family, which is pretty much everybody,” Reese said. It comes as no surprise that candidates are scrambling to get the female vote, considering women consist of the majority of the population by 50.8 percent, according to the 2011 United States Census Bureau. “I hope we have a big female voter turn out,” Bradbury said. “History is about to repeat itself and we cannot go backwards.” Women voters should keep in mind the difference the candidates have in terms of the issues that affect women, Buzby said. “Don’t get overwhelmed by the complexity of the process or the complexity of the issues under discussion,” Buzby said. “The platforms are there online and feel free to discuss them with your friends. “I’d like to see somebody have a plan,” Reese said. “Go and vote.”