Who Votes, Who Doesn’t and Why?

ARTICLE #5 IN A SERIES OF ARTICLES ABOUT THE 2022 MIDTERM ELECTIONS, BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS MINNEAPOLIS.

Recent Supreme Court rulings have exposed the reality that government representatives often don’t act in accordance with the will of the people. Polls indicate, for example, that Americans support access to abortion, yet the highest court in the land rescinded that right. So why the disconnect? It’s about voting – who votes, who doesn’t and why.

Among the pool of all eligible voters in the U.S., approximately 1 out of 3 did NOT vote in the 2020 Presidential election. The top reasons that these 77 million Americans did not vote were 1) lack of interest in politics 2) they didn’t like the candidates and 3) they didn’t think their votes would matter. Those least likely to vote were under 34, Hispanic, less educated, unmarried and with lower incomes. Difficulty of voting was not identified as a major reason for not voting, but we know there are subgroups, such as those living with a disability or with logistical barriers (childcare, transportation) for whom voting can be challenging if not impossible.

Then there are the disenfranchised. Minnesota is one of twenty states in which anyone convicted of a felony is prohibited from voting until they have been discharged from their entire sentence, including any term of probation or supervised release which may include monetary restitution.… Read the rest “Who Votes, Who Doesn’t and Why?”