Magruder’s American Government
1st Edition
ISBN: 9780133306996
Textbook solutions
All Solutions
Section 10-4: The Voting Process
Exercise 1
Solution 1
Solution 2
Step 1
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Voting machines have been used in elections for many years. Although they were expensive, took up a lot of space and were complicated to transport, they were the best solution at the time.
Step 2
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Punch-card ballots counted by a computer system were used for several years, but it turned out that the punches on the ballot were not always accurate and that they were often difficult to count.
Step 3
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This problem culminated in the 2000 presidential election, after which Congress passed the Help America Vote Act of 2002. Under this act, it was required that all lever-operated voting machines, including punch-card machines, be excluded from the election process by 2006 at the latest.
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**Punch card voting** was a part of the electronic data processing (EDP) of the votes. So, the punch card votes were counted by computers.
Step 2
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Punch card voting had issues due to the voters failing to make clean punches of their decision that EDP couldn’t recognize, thus count. This led to an inaccurate number of votes which is an alerting matter.
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After the presidential election in 2000 that used the punch card voting system, the passage of the **Help America Vote Act** (2002) came into action. The act demanded the abolishment of the punch card voting devices.
Exercise 2
Solution 1
Solution 2
Step 1
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**Voting by voice** used to be the most transparent way to vote. It is when citizens publicly call out a candidate’s name.
Step 2
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This way of voting was suited to its time. The States today have roughly 325 million residents. Vote by voice would be inconvenient and almost impossible to condone due to the time it takes and the number of people.
Step 3
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**Nowadays**, the votes are accurately counted with the help of electronics. They are confidentially kept and counted to encourage individuals to come up with their own decision while assuring the exact number of votes.
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Therefore, the benefits and efficiency of voting today are greater than voting by voice.
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Public voting by voice would not be applicable in modern elections for at least two reasons.
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First, the efficiency of the election would be extremely low because it would take too long. In the past, this way of voting was possible because there were not so many voters. Nowadays, a very large number of people have the right to vote.
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Further, public voting is not in line with democratic principles. Secrecy of voting enables the voter to cast his vote on the basis of his personal decision and according to his individual wishes. If the voting were public, a certain section of voters would not go to the polls. Also, there is a possibility that some voters who would go to the polls, would vote differently in relation to how they would vote if the elections were secret.
Exercise 3
Solution 1
Solution 2
Step 1
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Online voting has been used sporadically for some time and it is very likely that it will be more prevalent in the future.
Step 2
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The positive aspects of online voting are that it does not require going to the polls, so that voters who are in some way physically prevented from going to their polling place on election day can still exercise their right to vote. Also, there are citizens who simply do not have enough will to go to their polling place, but would gladly vote if they could do so from their home.
Step 3
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In addition to facilitating the act of voting itself, online voting is also far cheaper. Reducing the materials and manpower needed to organize polling place greatly reduces the cost of the elections themselves.
Step 4
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The downsides are the security issues of online voting. Nowadays, we are surrounded by cases of online data leaks from public and private databases, so it is not surprising that citizens are worried that their vote will not be misused.
Step 5
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Given that the online voting method implies a certain device from which voting would take place (computer, phone, tablet) as well as internet access, we can conclude that this voting method would not be available to all voters.
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Online voting should be used to a greater extent in order to reduce election costs and increase the number of voters. Work should be done on the security of the system through which voting takes place, so that as many voters as possible are sure that the process is protected and that there are no security disturbances.
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Also, this way of voting should always be an addition to the traditional one, and not the only possible one, so that citizens who do not have online voting available can exercise their right to vote.
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Online voting can be made more democratic by educating the citizens about its advantages, improving technology to make it more reliable, and providing better accessibility for online voting based on the area of citizen’s residency (internet accessibility).
Step 2
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**Online voting has its advantages**. One of them is that electronic data processing and voting technology gives a faster insight into the outcome of ballots. The technology behind it is secure, transparent, and efficient. It makes it a simple process because all you need is a phone and the internet to participate in the creation of government. This further motivates people to vote because it is such a simple and efficient process. This way might encourage younger people to vote and participate. The outcome of elections can be publicized faster.
Step 3
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It provides more convenience because it is a more accessible way for voters that are disabled.
Step 4
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There are no expenses for hiring the staff to manage the votes. Furthermore, online voting is a better environmental option as well.
Step 5
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**Some drawbacks of online voting** question the security of the process – hackers, viruses, and other threats that can negatively impact voting. Some people will vote over their personal computer, and what if the computer has a virus – that can affect the privacy of ballots which then poses a big issue.
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Some might have technical problems, such as using the technology or owning it, accessing the internet, especially in areas that aren’t urbanized (rural areas).
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Online voting is considered to face a greater risk for fraud. Moreover, some people are skeptical of online voting because it might bring disintegration to society and risks for the outcome of future elections.
Exercise 4
Solution 1
Solution 2
Step 1
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Separation of State and federal elections could be beneficial for State-level candidates. Given that federal elections are perceived as more significant, voters often transfer their decision from the federal level to the State level, without sufficient consideration of candidates from lower elections.
Step 2
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This phenomenon is called the Coattail effect – if the holder of the ballot is an extremely strong candidate, the voters who opt for it will most likely support all other candidates from the same party by default.
Result
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For these reasons, it would in some way be fairer for the elections to be separate – in which case voters could pay enough attention to state and local candidates.
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**One of the main advantages** of holding federal and state elections separate is that it provides citizens a better way to evaluate their reasons and make the decision.
Step 2
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When federal elections are undergoing, most of the attention is on the President and his campaign, the debates, and all other political actions behind the national elections.
Step 3
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If federal elections were undergoing the same time as the state elections, it would result in citizens opting out more into federal or state matters. This is important because the federal government is different from the state government in many ways. For this reason, voters would probably not have enough time to evaluate and focus on one at a time. Therefore, the federal and state elections are better one at a time.
Exercise 5
Solution 1
Solution 2
Step 1
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**Ballot fatigue** is a phenomenon when voters lose the motivation to participate in the electoral process due to excessive demand for voting, so they get fatigued from it.
Step 2
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It is no surprise they are more common in state elections. Even though the federal government is more significant, it is also more straightforward. More straightforward when compared to the state that might demand its citizens to vote for multiple matters.In order to reduce voting fatigue, accessibility has to be ensured, and the number of times a voter is presented with some kind of election.
Step 3
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Therefore, the state government needs to generalize the state elections as much as possible. If and as much as possible – only for the election of significant political positions. Imagine having to sign a document about a similar matter repeatedly instead of signing it only once.
Step 1
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**Ballot fatigue** is a phenomenon that occurs if voters are expected to go to the polls often and decide on the selection of too many candidates. In these cases, voters can simply give up going to the polls.
Step 2
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Although voting for candidates for many positions can be considered extremely democratic, it can also have a counter-effect in terms of reducing the number of voters due to ballot fatigue.
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In order to avoid the occurrence of ballot fatigue, voters should be required to select candidates only for key positions from which important decisions are made. All other positions from which the decisions made are only implemented, should be resolved by appointment instead of elections.
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