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Jillian Taylor

Mr. Kuykendall

GOVT 2306 EWG1

18 February 2018

Voter Turnout in Texas: An Epidemic?

Democracy, by definition, is a governmental system where the participation of the

majority is vital to the success of the unit. Knowing this, how can the system be expected to

succeed in regions where the majority is barely participating? This is the question that plagues

Texas government as voter turnout percentages consistently land lower than almost all other US

states. In a 2016 census conducted by the US Census Bureau, Texas proved to be #49 of 50 in

the percentage of population that actually voted in the November presidential election. The

shockingly low voter turnout rate in Texas can be ascribed to not only the voter themself, but

also the political actors whose responsibility is to increase voter participation. With the multitude

of factors that contribute to the lack luster contribution to the democratic system, it is vital that

action is taken to remedy the issue.

Voter participation in pertinent to the success of democracy. For many Texas Democrats,

the majority of their chance in winning elections hinges on increasing voter turnout. This partly

explains why the Republican party dominated Texas so strongly, as only 47.7% of the total

population of Texas participated in the November 2016 presidential election (Bureau). Equal

representation is also extremely important to a democratic system, and this is hard to maintain

when there is such a heavy presence of discrimination at the polls, especially against Hispanics.

Since people of Hispanic and Latino heritage make up 39% of the population in Texas (Bureau),
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their vote should be heavily encouraged instead of suppressed. Texas Senate Bill 362 requires all

voters to show photo identification, and this decreases participation from lower income citizens

and immigrants (Cadik). There was also a situation where Texas legislature almost passed a bill

that eliminated bilingual election material because it was considered a waste of resources. The

legislature was never passed, as Congress stepped in and reversed it. The bill was never passed,

partly due to the South Carolina v. Katzenbach court case (Cadik). All counties are still required

to provide bilingual election material if at least 5% of the population is Hispanic, but the entire

situation gave a strong representation of how Texas legislature views the Hispanic and Latino

vote (Cadik).

So why is voter turnout so low in a state with such a distinct identity? Traditional

political theory places the majority of the blame on two factors: the voters’ innate socioeconomic

characteristics and their lack of motivation to vote (Cadik). Thorough studies conducted by

Steven J. Rosenston, author of ​Mobilization, Participation, and Democracy in America​, and John

Mark Hansen disagree with this theory. They do, in fact, agree that approximately half of the

causation of low voter turnout is because of the voters themselves. This can be observed by

viewing the percentages of voters that participate in primary elections as compared to the much

lower percentage that participate in general elections (Cadik). Where their theories differ from

traditional theories is that they have determined that the other half of the low voter turnout rates

is the result of low political actor action (Cadik). When one political faction primarily dominates

a region, such as the Republican party in Texas, political figures are less inclined to pursue the

voter, as their position is more secure. In addition to the domination of political factions, a

decrease in mobilization also contributes to low participation (Cadik). A lack of exposure to

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campaigns, due to the decisions of political actors, is directly because of socioeconomic

characteristics. This is because the increase in social media and technology allows political

actors to find their desired voter and cater to that specific socioeconomic group. Less people are

being exposed to the amount of ideas of past years, causing the drop in participation. Innate

socioeconomic characteristics like income and education also contribute to lower turnout. The

wealthiest Americans are 16% more likely to vote, and Americans with a college education are

17% more likely to vote (Cadik).

To solve this problem, there are some huge legislative changes that need to be made.

Since education is such a huge socioeconomic factor, voter turnout would definitely benefit from

a huge focus on bettering that system. This would be ideal, but not as easy to fix quickly. In its’

current state, Texas needs to increase in participation from the Texas Democratic Party. To

increase voter turnout, the TDP needs to begin to engage more heavily in Southern Texas

communities (Cadik). An increase in the influence of the Democratic power will create more

political competition, thus leading to an even stronger increase in voter turnout.

There are many causes of the low voter turnout epidemic in Texas, including lack of

participation from political actors, racial discrimination, and socioeconomic characteristics. It is

so incredibly important that these numbers be raised, as a democratic system cannot fully

function without participation. The quickest solution to the issue is to increase democratic

exposure to create political competition. This means that both political actors and regular citizens

must begin to express their democratic views and positions, even in the face of opposition. A

system cannot be rebuilt, but it is the task of every societal member to refine the world they live

in.
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Works Cited

Cadik, Emily. "Taking Texas Back: A Voter Turnout Analysis of South Texas." The Scholar: St.

Mary's Law Review on Minority Issues, vol. 12, 01 Apr. 2010, p. 483. EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edslex&AN=edslexD8047362&site=e

ds-live.

Rosenstone, Steven J. Mobilization, participation, and democracy in america. Longman, 2009.

Bureau, US Census. “Data.” Voting and Registration in the Election of November 2016, US

Census Bureau, 1 May 2017,

www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/voting-and-registration/p20-580.html​.

Bureau, US Census. “Data.” Voting and Registration in the Election of November 2016, US

Census Bureau, 1 May 2017,

www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/voting-and-registration/p20-580.html.