Maybe we simply don’t have enough reasons to vote.  Luckily, the Independent Voter Network has prepared a list of 50 reasons why you should vote.  Here are our ten favorite:

1. To honor Founding Father Benjamin Franklin’s challenge to us all.

Following the close of the Constitutional Convention, he was asked “What have we got, a republic or a monarchy?” He answered, “A republic, if you can keep it!”

2. So you can complain with integrity.

“Elections belong to the people. It’s their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the people and burn their behinds, then they will have to sit on their blisters.” – Abraham Lincoln

3. Because “Taxation without representation is tyranny.” – James Otis

4. For the anticipation of seeing who wins!

5. For the 38,159 missing in action, awaiting a return home to their nation of equality, justice, and freedom.

6. Because you have researched your candidates and can make an informed vote

7. If you don’t vote for your own interests, who will?

8. Because “Apathy gets you the government we have today.” – Gil Sery

9. “You can vote for yourself, or someone you really like.” – Dillon McHugh

10. “Because the rest of us are depending on you.” – Marv DeBoy

If you need even more reasons to vote, check out the full list here. 

The truth is democracy can’t function if almost half of citizens aren’t voting; and, in this regard, Follow My Vote is striving to restore the democratic tradition.  Sign up to support Follow My Vote  in our push for secure end-to-end verifiable mobile voting in the United States.

And please, don’t disappoint Benjamin Franklin.  Exercise your right to vote!

About the author: Jess Kersey is Follow My Vote’s Data Scientist.  Her personal reason to vote is no. 2 on this list – so she can complain with integrity!

The post 10 Reasons To Vote appeared first on Follow My Vote.

But how does the United States compare to other democratic developed countries? The Pew Research Center completed a survey of the top 34 developed countries. The U.S. ranked 31st in voter turnout. The turnout was calculated from information regarding the 2012 general election. All of the countries surveyed were part of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

The information on America’s voter turnout does not include the actual number of registered voters. It only incorporated the voting age population. There are also 6 countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development that have compulsory or mandatory voting.

U.S. turnout in 2012 was 53.6%, based on 129.1 million votes cast for president and an estimated voting-age population of just under 241 million people. Among OECD countries, the highest turnout rates were in Belgium (87.2%), Turkey (86.4%) and Sweden (82.6%). Switzerland consistently has the lowest turnout, with just 40% of the voting-age population casting ballots in the 2011 federal legislative elections, the most recent.

However, Belgium and Turkey are among the 28 nations around the world (and six in the OECD) where voting is compulsory, according to the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance. (One canton in Switzerland, also an OECD member nation, has compulsory voting.) While compulsory-voting laws aren’t always strictly enforced, their presence or absence can have dramatic impacts on turnout: Of the five highest-turnout OECD countries in recent elections, three have laws requiring their citizens to go to the polls and cast ballots. Conversely, turnout plunged in Chile after it moved from compulsory to voluntary voting in 2012 (and began automatically enrolling eligible citizens): from 87% of registered voters in the 2010 presidential election to 42% in 2013, even as the voter rolls swelled by 64%.

This information could lead one to believe that some Americans are losing faith in democracy. Follow My Vote is on a mission to restore faith in democracy. Please share our content and contact us if you would like to join our cause.

Source: The Pew Research Center

About the author: Will Long is the Marketing Manager of Follow My Vote.

The post How Does America’s Voter Turnout Compare To The Rest Of The World? appeared first on Follow My Vote.