"The vote is the most powerful nonviolent
tool we have."
tool we have."
John Lewis
Voter turnout in texas
The voter turnout of a certain place is the percentage of people participating in elections. In the US and particularly in Texas, the voter turnout is very low when we compare it to other states, and this difference gets even bigger when compared to other countries.
Although the voter turnout has increased in the past years, Texas is almost at the bottom of the list, with 46.3 percent of Texas' voting-eligible population casting ballots (United States Election Project), that is less than half the people living in Texas.
Although the voter turnout has increased in the past years, Texas is almost at the bottom of the list, with 46.3 percent of Texas' voting-eligible population casting ballots (United States Election Project), that is less than half the people living in Texas.
which groups have greater voter turnout?
Political scientists have learned that a relatively small number of demographic and political variables are especially important, which are education, income, and age. The more education a person has, the more likely the person is to vote, and the same occurs with the income and the age, these factors increase the willingness of a person to vote (Maxwell, Crain, Santos. Texas Politics Today 18th Edition, page 80).
We can see this happening in reality, as the percentage of people who vote is more than double for people who studied a post-graduate course than the ones who didn’t finish high school. And in the case of age, only the 20% of people around 25 years go to vote, while people with more than 60 years reach the 65% of participation (United States Election Project). This shows that mainly the people who vote, and therefore make the decisions that affect most of the population in Texas, have a good education and have a considerable amount of incomes and age, and we will see now why this situation is not beneficial for everyone.
We can see this happening in reality, as the percentage of people who vote is more than double for people who studied a post-graduate course than the ones who didn’t finish high school. And in the case of age, only the 20% of people around 25 years go to vote, while people with more than 60 years reach the 65% of participation (United States Election Project). This shows that mainly the people who vote, and therefore make the decisions that affect most of the population in Texas, have a good education and have a considerable amount of incomes and age, and we will see now why this situation is not beneficial for everyone.
The positive PARTAs was mentioned before, mainly wealthy and well-educated people vote and make decisions about transportation in Texas. This helps the Government make decisions faster because the majority of these people have the same opinions about the same issues, like public transportation and toll roads, so in some way it’s good. But on the other hand, people who are truly affected by these issues don’t participate, so the solutions achieved may not apply for them.
For example, in the case of public transportation, the population that votes who are wealthy probably don’t have an idea about the situation of public transportation in Texas, because they barely use it. This is reflected in the budget of Texas transportation, which gives more importance to highways and private transportation issues, $24.7 billion dollars, and not so much importance to public transportation, $1.2 billion dollars (Legislative Budget Board). |
HOW to use this as AN ADVANTAGE?
This case is similar to the political culture one. If we want an idea to get accepted by the population, we should focus on the groups that actually vote, because these are who will support the idea. Having in mind that old, wealthy, and educated people have a great impact on the decisions made, and that the majority of Texas is individualist, now we have two factors that can guide us when proposing a bill or a solution to a transportation problem, in order for it to be successful.
talking about voting...
After reading these paragraphs, I hope you have realized the importance that voting has on society. The groups who don't vote don't get the benefits, it is as simple as that. This is why you, as a citizen, MUST participate in elections, census, polls, because all of this will let the government know that your community exists, and therefore will pay more attention to it. Every vote counts.
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