Voting Facts
600 Votes
That's how many more votes that Al Gore needed in Florida in 2000 to beat George W. Bush for president. The margin was so small, it triggered an automatic recount in Florida and a Supreme Court case (Bush V. Gore). Bush narrowly won by 0.009% of the votes in that state. We could have had an entirely different president from 2000-2008 and the many events that unfolded then (9/11, The Great Recession, etc.) could have looked differently.
Minorities Matter
In 1980, Ronald Reagan won the presidency by a landslide with 56% of the white votes. In 2012, Mitt Romney had the same amount of white voters but lost dramatically to Barack Obama because minorities made up of 30% of voters.
Low Voter Turnout
A study published in the American Political Science Review addresses how low voter turnout can have serious consequences on democratic processes and representation in the United States. Low voter turnout, they argue, systemically marginalizes lower socioeconomic citizens giving them less political influence. The type of people who do vote have a direct impact on politicians' decisions and priorities. This implies that low voter turnout among young Americans gives them less influence.
How Voting Positively Impacts Well-being
Barry Burden, a professor of political science and Director of the Elections Research Center at UW-Madison, states that the relationship between political participation and health are positively reciprocal. Research shows that the healthier you are, the more likely are you to vote and in turn, when someone votes and is involved in civic life, they are likely to be more social and efficacious due to feelings of connection and belonging within one's community.
How can this be explained?
The Social Ecological Model of Health
The Social Ecological Model of Health suggests that an individual's well-being isn't just determined by biology, but also by the community they live in and the systems they interact with.
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This not only includes voting in general elections, but the health policies determined by congressional representatives, senators, and local officials. It becomes clear that every aspect of our political system affects our daily lives and well-being.
