Voting in any country is considered essential and crucial as it represents the takeover of the ruling power, which in turn determines the future of the country and the way things will be working out right after the elections. This is the voter turnout of an election and is essential for an election to take place in a particular country. Elections are therefore decided by the voters who show up at a voting station and make the decisions upon various considerations of different factors. Through many years, as recorded by the election commission in America, the oldest people in America are the main ones that seem to show up in election polls and cast their votes to their respective choices. This is unlike for the younger citizens of the country with the differences more pronounced during the 2010 election. This paper aims to give a detailed explanation on the reason as to why the old citizens in America tend to vote more than the younger citizens. The paper further explores if there exists and why the age group is mainly regarded in the midterm.
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Major Reasons Why the Old Citizen Is Likely To More than the Younger Ones
To begin with, the registration and voting process in America requires that every person who relocates to other states or regions must consider registering again for them to be eligible for voting when the period the elections periods arrive. Young people are fond of moving from one place to another while they are still young, thereby considered unstable. This is so because of the working conditions and education processes which may require them to do so now and then. In doing so, most of them fail to register due to unavailability in most of their times while others completely forget to. This denies them the opportunities to vote while the ones that get to do so are in very small numbers. The old people, on the other hand, are not fond of relocating from places to places since most of them are established enough and are thus considered as stable.
According to Daniel there exists a policy in America that if one is likely to be less stable in a certain area of residential, then he or she is less likely to vote in any upcoming election and thus their registration is limited too. Since young people mostly under the age of 65 are more likely to relocate into new residences in large numbers than the elderly, they are thus less likely to be registered to participate in any election. Studies also suggest that the longer you stay in a particular place; there are possibilities of more established ties within the community and the campaigns that are likely to mobilize you have considered more also.
Senior citizens in the United States of America have more interest of securing and increasing the benefits that are valuable to them, provided by the government. Most of the benefits that the government provides to the public are directed to the old citizens, most of who are retired and cannot cover their expenses. A review of most of the major domestic valuable and benefits including the Medicare, social security, and the Medicaid, it is evident that the old people in America are the greater beneficiaries of the same and would therefore to the best of their interests vote for various choices of the aspirants who will benefit them. The younger people, on the other hand, are less likely to receive the same benefits making them less interested in voting to make the numbers of the elderly participating in voting, almost double to them.
If the same programs which offer such services to the public were to be changed, the most likely people to be affected are the retired elders in the country unable to provide for themselves. This creates the disparate group of people, a fact that leads to mobilization. Many politicians in America, for this reason, consider the capability and the influence of the elderly people’s votes, which thus makes them more careful on the approaches they take regarding the social security, Medicare, and the related issues. The benefits and programs that relate to the individuals in the country that are working are usually hidden which it makes less likely for these individuals to develop interests in voting. As a result, the numbers of the elderly people in the country who avail themselves in voting are more than the number of the young individuals in the same.
The working individuals in America are frequently in their younger ages and are thus occupied a lot from time to time. For them to vote, they must squeeze themselves into their tight schedules, a fact that most of them are usually unable to. The elderly individuals, on the other hand, don’t face the same pressure on their schedules. This makes them flexible and will find time to participate in almost every election in the country. Apart from this, they have enough time to be involved in politics participation and analysis and therefore giving them the best position and judgment of the leader they would wish to vote for, unlike the working individuals who barely have time for politics as they report to work elderly in the morning and return late and tired to their houses. This results in large numbers of the elderly than the young, during the voting periods.
If And Why This Particular Age Gap Is More Pronounced In Midterm Years and Primary Elections
The difference of the gap between the elderly voters and the young voters in America is considered much in the midterm elections than the general elections. According to McDonald, midterm elections usually generate voter turnout lower than any other elections in the United States and the fact that the young voters are involved, even reduces the turnout more. This is because these elections are usually held after two years of the general election, are considered as a referendum aimed at changing some of the previously elected officials in power during the previous general elections usually held after four years. The elderly may, therefore, want to use this as an avenue to remove some of the officials which do not benefit them before the years go by for the next elections to be held. They, therefore, may turn up in great numbers more than usually.
Due to the difference and the failure of most of the young people in America to vote, policies regarding the young people are likely to be changed in their favor, to allow for their registration and ability to vote regardless of their time schedules and abilities. This is likely to be done since the young people are the future and hence need to be given the proper basis and considerations to make the decisions regarding the leadership of the future. The focus of the elderly alone during the election does not give the best of future considerations as the country may end up reducing the ability of decision making through voting.
Conclusion
It is identified that the largest percentage of the voters in any election experienced in America is based on the elderly people. This is due to the general reason that these individuals being at their prime ages have most a lot of time and schedule free which enables them to participate in politics as well as the elections. The fact that the number of the young people in the elections is limited is due to their time schedules and unavailability which leads to failure in their registration. Since there exist no policies established to favor their schedules and capabilities to vote, these numbers are projected to stay the same until policies are established and applied to change the case. The elderly are active and punctual in elections to protect their public benefits, not provided to the young, and this makes the big difference in the election turn ups.
