Voter Turnout in Georgia: Is 59.3% a passing rate?
Although Georgia experienced a slight uptick in numbers of citizens coming out to the polls during the General Election of 2016, analysts predict a greater downturn in voters during the Midterm Elections of 2018. While some of this may be due to the studied trend that midterm and primary elections simply garner less attention than general elections, especially presidential ones, a great deal of that downturn could be attributed to other factors as well. Increasing voter registration and turnout increases the efficacy of the democratic process, and political efficacy should be a key goal in a democratic system.
Problem:
Georgia’s 59.3% voter turnout rate ranks tenth among the US states with the lowest rates. This is a glaring problem for a state that is experiencing significant demographic change with new waves of immigrants and refugees seeking shelter within its borders. As Georgia grows and changes, the electorate should be growing and changing with it in order to reflect the true opinions of the people living there. Restrictive voter ID laws often prevent people from even attempting to vote; the process to register can feel long and too complicated. Accessibility is also an important factor in the process, as voter ID laws in Georgia require valid government-issued photo IDs for registration, which are not always easy to obtain. This gap between the legalities behind voter registration and the ability for people to complete that voter registration process lead to statistically meaningful disparities between those eligible to vote and those that actually do.

Stakeholders:
Two obvious groups of stakeholders stand out in this issue: the voters or people attempting to cast votes, and the politicians for whom they are voting. Each group has its own goals throughout this process, so it is important to look from the perspective of both to gain full understanding of the issue.
The constituents looking to participate politically are the most at risk here, as those in power (or those elected to power) are in charge of how constituents receive the ability to vote. Although anti-discrimination laws exist to prevent the exclusion of groups and minorities from voting, in reality, they are not always enough to stop that from happening. Symbolic ‘red-tape’ exists around the process of voter registration for those who identify with certain groups, including minorities. The real problem here is multifold. In a direct way, current voter ID laws restrict the electorate to those who have access to photo identification and cut out those who do not have access as easily. In an indirect way, current voter ID laws discourage future political participation by creating and encouraging a mentality that voting in general is futile and ineffectual. Beyond the overt effect of exclusion and discrimination, the longer-term effects can be detrimental to entire populations, who now hold in their cultural memories a system which has always excluded them, and always will. This sense of helplessness, particularly in political situations, leads to those excluded groups giving up any sense of faith in the democratic system altogether, a danger that can undermine democracy’s core goals.

The other stakeholder is those in power, the government officials who are elected to their positions by constituents. Once in power, studies have shown that many seek re-election and to maintain the power they have amassed. This, of course, affects how they choose to act while in office, weighing the costs and benefits of how any action will affect their long-term career lifespans. By cutting out certain groups from the electorate, some politicians stand to gain quite a lot, leading those very same politicians to enact voter ID laws that restrict the constituency down to those they want to cast votes, those that will likely favor their re-election bids on election day.
A third group of stakeholders exists here, which is a middle ground between the electorate and the elected politicians: civil society. This includes advocacy organizations, non-profit groups, NGOs, and any type of association that seeks to voice the concerns of those in the community. These third-party observers are often advocates for certain policy changes and look to obtain those policy changes through the democratic process. Civil society is a broad idea that essentially depends on governmental channels to develop the change it desires. Some members of civil society hold financial power, making some in government positions beholden to their interests. PACs, Super-PACs, and interest groups could all be included in this category. In a world of changing politics, smear campaigns, and heavy visual and audio advertising, the influence these civil society groups wield is not to be understated.
Feasibility:
Change in voter registration policy in Georgia is an issue that is garnering more and more attention as the state begins to find itself in a national spotlight. Recent elections have demonstrated that Georgia may be more of a swing state than conventionally thought, as seen through the elections in the 6th Congressional District for the US House of Representatives and the current gubernatorial race. Georgia is on a national stage, and it is quickly becoming a think-tank experiment for changing political tides in the country. What happens in Georgia could have ripple effects on a national scale, so a change in voter ID laws could be a much greater focus in the future. Further development and exploration of the field of increasing both voter registration and voter turnout in Georgia are highly feasible, considering the changing demographics, evolving political sentiment, and growing national attention occuring in the state.
Footnotes:
- Niesse, M. (2018, May 1). Early voting opens for Georgia primary elections. Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved September 6, 2018, from https://www.ajc.com/news/state--regional-govt--politics/early-voting-begins-monday-for-georgia-primary-elections/qcw2a2WJMeTL84YQ1HQPBL/
- Pugh, T. (2018, June 12). Supreme Court decision halts Georgia voting rights lawsuit. McClatchy DC Bureau. Retrieved September 6, 2018, from https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/article213001299.html
- Gaskins, K., & Iyer, S. (2012, July 18). The Challenge of Obtaining Voter Identification. Brennan Center for Justice. Retrieved September 6, 2018, from http://www.brennancenter.org/publication/challenge-obtaining-voter-identification
- Georgia Secretary of State. (2018). Voting. GeorgiaGov. Retrieved September 6, 2018, from https://georgia.gov/popular-topic/voting
- Georgia Secretary of State. (2010). VOTER TURNOUT BY DEMOGRAPHICS. Ga.Gov. Retrieved September 6, 2018, from http://sos.ga.gov/index.php/Elections/voter_turn_out_by_demographics
- Rising American Electorate. (2017, July 20). Comparing the Voting Electorate in 2012–2016 and Predicting 2018 Drop-Off. Voter Participation Data Center. Retrieved September 6, 2018, from http://data.voterparticipation.org/states/GA/
- McCaffrey, S. (2012, September 3). Despite voter ID law, minority turnout up in Georgia. Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved September 6, 2018, from https://www.ajc.com/news/despite-voter-law-minority-turnout-georgia/3wOfD2SkXmTgRwbySd2ZiK/
- Leonhardt, D. (2018, May 23). In Georgia, Democrats Go With a Voter-Turnout Strategy. The New York Times. Retrieved September 6, 2018, from https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/23/opinion/stacey-abrams.html
- 24/7 Wall St., Contributor. (2016, October 28). States With The Highest (And Lowest) Voter Turnout. The Huffington Post. Retrieved September 6, 2018, from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/states-with-the-highest-and-lowest-voter-turnout_us_5813a3c5e4b096e87069653a
