Comparing the 2018 Midterm Primary, 2020 Presidential Primary, and 2022 Midterm Primary
|
Primary Election 2018-2022 |
Total Registered voters |
Percentage of Registered voters who voted in the Primary Elections |
Percentage of Registered Democrat voters who voted in the Democrat's Primary |
Percentage of Registered Republican voters who voted in the Republican's Primary |
Percentage of Register voters who did not vote in their party's Primary |
|
2018 Mid-Term Primary |
15.2 million |
17.2% |
7% |
10.2% |
82.8% |
|
2020 Presidential Primary |
16.2 million |
25.3% |
12.9% |
12.4% |
74.6% |
|
2022 Mid-Term Primary |
17.2 million |
17.7% |
6.3% |
11.4% |
82.4% |
Here, out of 15.2 registered voters, only 17.2% voters in Texas cast a ballot in the 2018 mid term primary election. Out of 17.2% registered voters, 7% were democrat voters whereas remaining 10.2% were Republican voters. Likewise, out of 16.2 million registered voters, only 25.3% voters cast a ballot in the 2022 presidential primary election. Out of 25.3%, 12.9% were democrat voters whereas remaining 12.4% were republican voters. And in 2022 mid term primary election, out of 17.2 million registered voters only 17.7% voters cast a ballot in Texas. Out of 17.7% registered voters, 6.3% were democrat voters whereas remaining 11.4% were republican voters.
“Texas has a history of a dismal turnout rate in primary elections. And voter turnout here is among the lowest, too.”[footnoteRef:1] Comparatively with the number of registered voters, Texas’s voter turnout is quiet low. Comparing 2020 presidential primary election with 2022 midterm primary election, although number of registered voters are 1 million more in 2022 but percentage of voters participate in election is less by around 8%. This is because voting laws in Texas are the most restrictive in the country and requirement of Id recently made rejection of thousands of mail-in ballots. [1: Ramsey, Ross. “Analysis: It's Harder to Vote in Texas than in Any Other State.” The Texas Tribune, The Texas Tribune, 19 Oct. 2020, https://www.texastribune.org/2020/10/19/texas-voting-elections/. ]
“Under Texas law, voters who possess one of the seven acceptable forms of photo ID must present that ID at the polls when voting in person.”[footnoteRef:2] Voter Id law is particularly a required law to ensure electoral integrity reducing the risk of voter fraud, but it tends to negatively affect the Texas voter turnout. “In just 16 of the state’s largest counties, more than 18,000 mail-in ballots were rejected, most for failing to meet the new law’s ID requirements”.[footnoteRef:3] I wouldn’t say it is an unnecessary law, but it doesn’t suit. I oppose the law because if some can lawfully vote, we can’t take his/her right of voting because of the non-presence of the ID. What as if somebody lost their ID or some catastrophe made someone lose everything. Recently my friend lost his ID and he had to take appointment to make new one but unfortunately there is not any appointment for at least 3 months. What as if there is election between those three months, in that case he is deprived of his/her voting right which is not fair. [2: “Texas Government 2.0, Voting and Political Participation in Texas, Voter Turnout and Political Participation in Texas.” OERTX Repository, https://oertx.highered.texas.gov/courseware/lesson/1103/overview#:~:text=Voter%20Turnout%20in%20Texas&text=Overall%2C%20voter%20turnout%20among%20the,than%20the%20turnout%20increase%20nationwide. ] [3: Ramsey, Ross. “Analysis: It's Harder to Vote in Texas than in Any Other State.” The Texas Tribune, The Texas Tribune, 19 Oct. 2020, https://www.texastribune.org/2020/10/19/texas-voting-elections/.]
Voter enthusiasm is a prime factor to influence voter turnout and registration. Its not like we have less registered voters, but we have less participant of registered voters in the elections. Redistricting has negatively impacted voter enthusiasm which directly affect voter turnout. Let’s take an example of an area with majority of 70% of republican, democrat voters’ enthusiasm will be down as their votes will not make any difference so, they stopped taking part in election which decrease the voter turnout. Moreover, Voter Id requirement also negatively affected the voter turnout. Thousands of ballots were rejected for failing to meet the voter’s ID requirement law.
In the simplest term, Gerrymandering is redistricting with the intention of influencing who gets elected. “Rather than voters choosing their representatives, gerrymandering empowers politicians to choose their voters”.[footnoteRef:4] It reduces the competitiveness of elections and increases the number of Americans who believe their votes are worthless. Gerrymandering has the potential to cause people to no longer want to participate in the electoral system because gerrymandering affects peoples’ perception of the electoral system and ultimately makes people feel disenfranchised. “If voters believe their candidate has a poor chance of winning, they are much less likely to participate in the political process “.[footnoteRef:5] To maintain the democratic nature of the voting process, it is imperative to determine just how harmful these consequences are. [4: 7971, and 206. “Gerrymandering Explained.” Brennan Center for Justice, 3 Nov. 2022, www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/gerrymandering-explained. ] [5: 7971, and 206. “Gerrymandering Explained.” Brennan Center for Justice, 3 Nov. 2022, www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/gerrymandering-explained.]
