Voter turnout

[PETRUS]

Since I turned 18, fewer than 60% of eligible voters have cast ballots in any given election. Fewer than 40% in off-years.

What WOULD send these folks to the polls?

[yourout]

1. Get rid of the electoral college make election day a national holiday.

[freshwest]

4. You win the thread! Be sure it's a paid holiday and mandatory to vote to get paid.

[MADem]

2. I like the National Holiday idea, but failing that, scrap the First Tuesday in November thing

and go to the first WEEKEND in November--starting at 0001 on Saturday through midnight on Sunday. That'll give everyone forty eight hours to cast their votes.

Increase voting by mail, particularly in municipalities where there aren't enough polling places.

Look into voting by computer--that's a ways away, but we should try it--maybe try it out in local contests, and work the bugs out. People who won't get off their asses and drive, wait in line, fill in a paper, feed it into a machine--or whatever the process--might fire up the computer and click a few links.

Timely topic!

[Skittles]

3. someone they truly believed in

[alc]

5. do they know enough to vote

Many of them probably know what's going on but don't like the options. A good candidate is what is needed to get them to the polls.

But, I'd bet a lot of them don't know or care anything about the issues or the candidates. I'd like a way to get these people educated on the issues, but I do not think it's good to encourage them to vote (e.g. paid holiday/mandatory voting) unless they are educated first.

I really don't think it will help to have more people voting based on the last TV ad they saw or the fact that their boss said Obama was born in Kenya or someone in their church said Obama wants to provide free abortions in schools. That just minimizes the votes of people who do know the issues and show up to vote because they care.