181— Same Day Voter Registration and Increasing Voter Turnout

Among major democracies, the United States has one of the lowest voter turnouts. Presidential elections in the United States see a turnout of only about 60% and turnout for midterm elections is even lower. These percentages are made worse when one considers that the population that does vote isn’t representative of the demographics of the nation as a whole. One of the reasons that voter turnout is so low is because many states require potential voters to register months before election day. A remedy to this problem that has been utilized by other nations and some states within the U.S. is same day voter registration. This policy allows people to register to vote on election day rather than having to register prior to the day of the election. If the federal government were to implement this policy nationwide, the voter turnout would increase and the population that voted would be more representative of the nation as a whole