The following paper discusses in detail the issue of under participation of the minority population in voting. Minorities in the US do not actively participate in voting and thus hamper the development of the nation. This paper aims in understanding the underlying reasons for such lack of participation and offers some solution to ensure that the minorities exercise their voting rights.
The Minority vote
Introduction
Voting has many implications as it can make or break governments and can largely affect the smooth functioning of a government. Economic developments are significantly dependent on the voting turnout. Voting is an ideal weapon granted to the common man to choose his government; it changes the scope and quality of the government. Electoral outcomes are a detrimental factor affecting the functioning of the present government. Even though the significance of voting is blatantly obvious to the population, the minority voting turnout is very less. Minorities fail to understand the importance of voting, and the need for representation. It is a moral obligation on part of the minorities to vote in order to form a government that is fair and just in its functioning and policy making and has the betterment of the entire nation as its main agenda. The minority population of America constitutes of many ethnic backgrounds such as African- Americans, Asians, Latinos and Mexican- Americans. These races need to understand the importance of voting and its effects not only on the national policy making but also on the individual state development, which in turn translate into their development . There are many reasons associated with the low turnout of minorities which are discussed further.
Detrimental factors affecting voting behavior in immigrants and minorities
Even though many studies have aimed at researching the factors that affect the voting behavior, very less data is available on the voting patterns of minorities and immigrants, the main reason being citizenship issues in order to cast vote. Unless citizenship is acquired, no dweller of the nation can vote. This is a major factor discouraging minority voting.
Another major factor contributing to voting trends is the trust in civic bodies and institutions. Civic engagement of the minorities determines their participation level in voting. Age and educational level also influence the voting trend amongst minorities.
Socio economic conditions such as age, sex, education and economic conditions majorly influence voting patterns amongst minorities. It is no secret that the majority of minorities currently residing in USA are living below sub-standard dwelling conditions. Being economically backward, the education levels are also low, with majority of school drop- outs. Such conditions are a major cause for non-indulgence of minorities in voting. Due to low educational levels, the importance of voting is not fully comprehended and thus low turn-out of voters is witnessed. According to Lien (2004) US born Asians are less likely to vote than the natives.
Research conducted by Ramakrishnan and Espenshade (2001) state in case of immigrant voting, factors such as English language proficiency, duration of stay, generation, ethnic residential concentration etc. In case of generation, various racial and ethnic group display varied patterns in voting participation. Furthermore longer stay in US resulted in more chances of voting, which did not hold true in case of blacks and Asian Americans. The voting trend is also influenced by the political conditions of the native country from where the immigrants hailed. A repressive regime lowered the probability of the immigrants to vote. But a positive political culture of the state can influence the minorities to vote.
Under representation of the minority population on federal and state posts is another factor that discourages minorities from voting. There is a very less percentage of minorities who have been elected for various state and federal offices. This in turn causes the minorities to feel under represented as there is no one they can relate to or even trust. The solution is to encourage greater participation from the minority community for the race of various position so as to increase the trust level amongst the minority population living in the US.
Mobilization affecting minority participation
Various factors are attributed by scholars regarding the voter turnout. Not just civic duty and social pressure affect the vote (Gerber et al. 2008) but also means of communication such as telephone marketing, personal canvassing and email/ mail marketing (Cardy, 2005; Gerber and Green, 2000a). One field that greatly affects the voter turnout is the impact of mobilization efforts by the party. It is a well documented fact that parties pay little attention towards the ethnic minorities such as African- Americans and thus there is a less voter turnout from this segment. Lack of resources meant less interest from the parties, thus resources, more than ethnicity, was a detrimental factor regarding who took active interest in the American politics (Verba et al. 1993). Therefore if equal resources were presented to the minorities, there would have been equal participation in the voting procedure. Parties also concentrate their resources based on the dwelling area, thus mobilization is less likely to produce any effect in areas predominantly inhabited by blacks, and therefore parties take little interest in such areas.
Ethnic involvement
The ways the ethnic minorities are involved in the voting process greatly affect the inter-relationship of minorities and the majority of a country. But the electoral rules affect the ethnic turnout. Improper and biased rules are one of the leading causes for fewer turnouts of minority voters. Ethnic conflicts can be majorly avoided if there is significant inclusion of the ethnic minorities in the electoral process. There are several methods in which the ethnic minorities can be included in the political process of elections. In order to influence the minorities, power sharing is an effective tool.
Minority representation is another factor determining the voter turnout amongst minorities. Being a democratic country, fair representation of minorities on the electoral list majorly influences the turnout of ethnic minorities. Inclusion of minority delegates into the government is a big step towards the inclusion of minority voters. Representation is a strong influence to attract minority voters.
Stringent Rules and Regulations for voting
US states follow stringent voting rules failing which, an individual is not allowed to vote. In most states of America, especially in Indiana, latest photo identification issued by the federal or state government needs to be furnished in order to cast a vote. The main reason for such stringent regulations is to avoid fraudulent voting. But such strict rules have substantial effect on the minority section living in US. As their socio-economic condition isn’t favorable, added voting costs deter them from voting. Such groups make up a substantial fragment of the population, added bureaucratic regulations merely refrain them from participation in the voting process.
USA has had a history of stringent rules that have discouraged voters, especially those hailing from minority class to cast their vote. Previous to the ID verification, literacy tests were conducted to let a voter cast his/ her vote. Similarly poll taxes were levied prior to voting. These rules, instead of promoting voting, further discouraged the people from casting their vote. Minorities in particular are troubled by such rules and thus do not take active part in the voting process.
Education: A strong factor
As mentioned earlier, educational levels affect the voting preferences in the minorities. According to studies, those with graduation level of studies were twice as more likely to vote than mere high-school pass outs. Similarly school drop- outs were the least most likely to vote. Minority segment of the society, especially constituting of African Americans have highest number of school drop outs, thus voting is not given substantial importance in this ethnic race.
African-Americans: Voting Trends
Recent reports suggest nearly 8 million African- Americans living in US are not registered to vote. Such trends portray a dismissal picture of the voting trends in the African-American ethnicity. US majorly constitute of minorities belonging to the Africa- American and Asian ethnicity, their non-participation is an eye- opener regarding the damaging effect it can cause to the entire nation. The reason for such non- participation are believed to be many such as apathy towards the nation, disinterest, carelessness, ignorance and skepticism towards the politicians. But critics point out that such lack of participation is a betrayal to the struggle and sacrifices of their fore fathers who fought for the safe- guarding of the rights of African –Americans. Most blacks residing in America feel that their votes will have no impact and thus refrain from voting.
But a deeper understanding of the underlying problem reveals not just lack of enthusiasm on the part of the African –Americans but also lack of co- operation and empathy from the politicians themselves. Rising cost of voting, strict ID proofs, rigid form- filling timeline, lack of information provided by the state regarding the availability of registration forms and weak voter registration campaigns are major reason for the lack of participation from the African –Americans
Politicians today are largely dependent on the flow of continuous cash from big corporate houses. In such a scenario the weak minority class is largely ignored. The needs of the voters are grossly neglected. Before the election, voters are nudged towards registration and voting, but once the Election Day passes away, these newly registered voters are provided no guidance nor are they motivated to vote henceforth, thus such voters are not sustained. This causes little or no interest in voters to vote again in the next elections. Thus, merely blaming the black community for lack of participation is unfair, given the fact that the politicians themselves do little to attract minorities to vote.
The Right to Vote and Citizenship
In the USA, which constitutes of many races such as African- Americans, Hispanics and Asians etc. the voting rules are very strict. According to the federal law, only US citizens are allowed to vote. Minorities, dwelling in the US without citizenship are not given voting rights. Previously, when the country had come into being, only white men who were owners of property were given the right to vote. White working men, women and people of other origin and color were denied voting rights. After the American civil war, most white men were allowed to vote, but only after passing literacy test and sometimes religion tests and on payment of poll tax. Thus, again the minorities were not attributed for polling rights.
Over the time, many amendments changed the rules and regulations governing the voting procedures. Later on, religious tests were completely scrapped and no color discrimination was done. According to the 14th Amendment, every person born or naturalized in US is a citizen, regardless of his/ her color, race or servitude and was hence granted the right to cast vote.
Native Americans, born in America were slowly and gradually uprooted from their native lands and they lost claim of their own land. They were not considered as citizens in the eyes of the federal government, thus they had no rights to vote. If the tribal affiliations were given up by the natives, they had the option of becoming US citizens but without voting rights in 1887, thus robbing them of their basic rights. Only until 1924 did the natives become US citizens, but yet the voting rights were denied, not in the direct way but through indirect means.
The African- Americans were always denied rights as they were considered slaves. But the 14th amendment changed the scenario and was given certain rights. The 15th amendment gave blacks the right to vote as they were now considered citizens of US. Even though the right was granted, it was shrouded in a clock of denial as many rigid tests such as literacy tests, poll taxes, undisclosed locations for voting and physical aggression. Thus this clearly depicted the unwillingness on the part of US to grant the African- Americans the same status as that of other US citizens.
The 15th Amendment, after the American Civil War, clearly stated the rights of every citizen to vote. Freedmen, especially from the black ethnicity and many other non- white minorities such as Mexican- Americans were given the right to exercise their voting rights. Vigilante groups such the Ku Klux Klan worked towards controlling of the freedmen and ascertain white supremacy through unfair means of violence and intimidation. Yet this did not hamper the participation of the freedman as their registration for voting increased in the 1880’s and many were also elected in the local offices.
Widespread hatred for the freed African- Americans and other ethnic groups gave rise to many vigilante groups which not only used intimidation but also used political powers to refrain the ethnic minorities from voting. This dismissal scenario continued up until 1900’s. Politically many steps were taken to disfranchise blacks. Apart from literacy test, felony disfranchisement was also enforced, wherein Africans charged with any felony were not given voting rights. Poll taxes and complicated registration systems further discouraged the black population from voting.
Not until the 1950’s were the causes of black population taken into consideration and the 15th Amendment and the Civil Rights were enforced more stringently to promote voting procedure in the minorities. Many legal cases led to the formation of various groups and organizations that worked towards the safeguarding of the rights of the minority African- Americans in the US. This has helped to bring the voting percentage higher in the minority population. But the effects of the past have caused a scar amongst the minorities which abstains them from voting. The voting turn out in the African- American yet remains less as the previous conditions have majorly discouraged the group from voting. The general notion of not being wanted has taken deep root into the mindsets of the minority population which highly discourages them from casting their vote.
Solutions to the Voting Issues
Educating the minority population of their rights and responsibilities is the first and the basic step to overcome the issue of low participation level. As discussed previously, educated individuals are able to make the right choice and understand their responsibility towards the nation, thus it is imperative for the US government to initialize educational drives that will empower the ethnic minorities to exercise their voting rights. Civic and voter education is a grossly neglected arena, which requires immediate attention. Developing an appropriate strategy that specifically targets minority areas will help in mass education. Politicians need to realize that mere talks will not enable them to earn votes, but instead sensitizing the masses regarding their rights is the correct approach.
Proportional representation ensures greater voting turnout from the ethnic groups, who have been denied power previously. Even though African- Americans and Latinos form a major population of US, there has been little or no representation of these ethnicities in elected offices. The presence of minority personnel in committees and offices ensures a voting bloc as many minorities would want to vote their candidates. This would ensure better participation level from the minority population. Proportional representation can help in recovering electoral injustice and thus reinforce the faith of minorities in the US electoral affairs. Many states throughout US have adopted proportional representation in order to overcome voting rights challenges, thus if it is adopted by the federal law for senate seat, it will ensure much more active participation of the minority population of US.
Another step that can help overcome the under participation issue is the relaxing of strict and stringent rules in order to accommodate more ethnic minorities for voting. As these rules discourage the population from voting, relaxing of the rule can help solve the issue of under participation. Exclusive rules can be set for the minority population and encourage them for voting participation.
Setting up organizations that especially educate and make the minority population aware of the benefits of voting is the need of the hour. The government needs to reinforce faith within the minority population regarding its eagerness for their participation. Organizations can be set specifically in those areas that are majorly inhabited by ethnic minorities. These organizations should not be merely namesake ones, but should in fact incorporate regular programs and agendas listing out the benefits of voting. These organizations can also offer advice to those seeking knowledge about the requirements for exercising their voting rights. Elderly people can be assisted by these organizations to fill out mandatory registration forms for voting, and help them meet all the requirements.
Small, but conclusive steps taken by the government can help overcome the problem of minority voting. The federal as well as the state government needs to formulate conclusive programs that will increase participation of the minorities.
Conclusion
Every country faces its set of problems, but overcoming them is essential for the smooth functioning of the affairs. US is populated with a large number of minority groups, thus safe guarding their rights is essential for the country to prosper. Voting is a basic right of any individual, and if not exercised to its full potential, it’s a huge loss not only for the country, but the entire population. Minorities need to understand the power of voting and how it can help secure their fair status in the country when their elected government rules the nation. Education is the key to ensure full participation from the minorities.
Like many other issues faced by the minorities, less participation in voting is a plague that needs to be eliminated urgently. A country is successful only when its residents are responsive towards its well being, this can be achieved only through participation in the functioning of the affairs of the nation, and thus it is extremely important for the minority population of the nation to exercise its rights of voting.
References:
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