Introduction
A democratic country must ensure the process is free and fair and that all people participate in the voting process. Since the 2016 election of Donald Trump, the United States has failed at these two metrics where a disputed election in 2020 saw post-election violence. In addition, despite an increased number of youths voting in 2020, their numbers were the smallest of all age groups. This research paper aims to find ways to increase election integrity and perceptions of free and fair elections among Americans. It will also recommend ways to get more youths to vote in the next US presidential election. Secondary sources especially journal articles were used for this research which adopted a descriptive research methodology.
Background
The United States presidential election is a winner take all election, meaning that the loss of an election is always devastating to the contestant and their supporter. In this regard, supporters and candidates do everything possible to clinch the presidency. It is against this background of a winner take all system that the 2020 US presidential election was conducted. The 2020 presidential election pitted the incumbent president at the time (Donald Trump) against his democratic challenger and the current president, Joe Biden.
During his presidency, Trump exhibited unorthodox behavior, and he was widely seen as incompetent due to his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and other domestic and foreign gaffes. In addition, major polling companies showed that he was losing the presidency to Joe Biden. He dismissed any news about his loss as “fake news” and assured his supporters that he would emerge the winner, just like in 2016 when everybody had doubted him.
However, the 2020 US presidential election turned out very different from what he had imagined and promised to his followers. At the end of the tallying, he was defeated by more than 5 million votes and 74 points in the electoral college. Rather than graciously accept defeat as tradition demanded, former president Trump alleged that the US presidential election of 2020 was rigged. His allegations set off a string of conspiracy theories that culminated in the January 6, occupation of the Capitol building. Donald Trump’s allegations have never been substantiated. However, evidence suggests that a more than usual voter turnout especially among the youth turned the tide in favor of Joe Biden. In addition, the few irregularities that were identified in some voting areas do not qualify to generalize the 2020 US presidential as devoid of integrity.
Aim of the Research
This research aims to propose strategies that can be used to ensure that the US presidential election is above reproach. It will also propose ways to increase youth participation in the political process in the United States, especially voting in the presidential election.
Specific Aims
- To propose ways in which the integrity of the American election can be improved.
- To propose ways in which more participation by young people in the electoral process can be increased.
Research Project Approach
The research adopted a descriptive methodology and used research from other authors to propose solutions to the research questions. In descriptive research, information is collected without manipulating the variables. It is sometimes called correlational or observational study and focuses on the “what” of a study rather than “why.” However, in this research secondary data sources will be used to meet the specific aims of the research. Secondary sources used information already collected by primary researchers to answer specific research questions. Using secondary sources is beneficial because one does not incur costs associated with raw data collection. The primary secondary data sources for this research were books, print media, and journal articles.
Literature Review
Improving Election Integrity
The 2020 US presidential election saw the polarization of society with accusations of fraud by some quarters who could not stomach their electoral loss. To support their wild accusations, they accused companies that provided the voting technology of being hacked, they also alleged vote stuffing through mail-in voting (Mochtak et al., 2021). Despite their groundless accusations, it is important to improve the integrity and transparency of the elections (Garnett, H., & James).
To ensure that such actions never occur again, it is important to eliminate all opportunities that could enable a future presidential contender to allege that their votes were stolen or that the election was somehow electronically manipulated to ensure they do not ascend to the presidency. To accomplish this, strong cyber security measures that prevent attacks by malicious software and dedicated denial of service attacks are possible. It is also imperative to carry out civil education on the voting and tallying mechanisms and the fail-safes that exist per state to ensure that the election of a president is without material errors that could invalidate it or lead to questions about its integrity.
A Congressional report released before the 2020 US presidential election noted that the vulnerability of the US electoral systems to attacks by malicious software and dedicated denial of service attacks posed the greatest threat to the American electoral system. The report noted that any use of software for voting, tallying or transmission of election results increases the risks of a malware attack (Brown et al., 2020).
In addition, the report was categorical that online voting and transmission of results faced the threat of a denial of service through a DDoS attack. To mitigate this threat, the report noted that the US government could take several steps including boosting its cyber defense and identifying and publicly naming state-sponsored online attacks on US critical systems (Brown et al., 2020). None of the identified cyber-attacks in the report occurred during voting day on November 2020. However, that did not stop the Trump team from alleging that the election was hacked and votes diverted to his rival.
With the US electoral systems not subject to cyberattacks and a dedicated denial of service, the only plausible explanation for what happened on January 6, 2021, is the lack of civic education on voting and electoral systems in the US. At the heart of the ignorance of electoral systems is mail-in voting. Much of the allegations of fraud in 2020 centered on the notion that mail-in votes were dumped at the last minute to change the results of the elections. Unsurprisingly, a significant number of people believed so, especially in areas where the election was too close to call and it took more time to tally the votes. Media reports that a significant number of people do not know what mail-in voting is. This points to a lack of civic education which complicated and led people to believe the 2020 election was rigged in favor of the current president.
Getting more Youth to Vote
Youths are an important constituency for anyone seeking to lead to the US because they constitute more than a fifth of the population. However, despite their impressive numbers and involvement in civic engagements and activism, youths in the US are not represented in Congress and most of them tend not to vote. Their suboptimal representation and refusal to engage in elections undermine the democratic credentials of the United States. Democracy is built on the idea that the government in power represents the face of the country. However, in the United States, the average age for members of the House of Representatives in 2021 was 58.4 years while the average age for Senate members was 64.3 years (Levy, & Akiva, 2019). In addition, the president is almost eighty years old and there are fears that he may be too old by the end of his term as president. Even then, he could opt for reelection because of a lack of an upper limit on the age of a president of the US.
Interestingly, the US constitution requires that any candidate for the United States presidency be at least 35 years, be a natural-born citizen of the US, and must have lived in the US for at least 14 years. At the age of 35 years, one is already past their youthful day and officially enters mid-life. In essence, the US constitution precludes the chance of a youth ever leading the country as president. This implicit ban on youths running for the presidency is one of the reasons many youths fail to turn out to vote. The age difference between them and the people on the ballot means that they cannot relate at the most basic level. The older generation is also removed from the daily life and experiences of young people and with most people electing the older generation, some people may feel that electing one or two young people may not make a difference.
Youth participation in the United States electoral process has traditionally been lower than in other developed countries. The lack of interest in politics by the youth is often attributed to a realization that despite voting, nothing will change. However, despite the relatively smaller number of registered youth voters when compared with other demographics, their full participation has the potential to change US politics completely. For example, a significant number of youths who felt let down by the administration of Donald Trump shifted the election in favor of Joe Biden. Had the voting patterns of the 2016 elections stuck in 2020, the incumbent at the time was guaranteed victory. However, his victory was averted by youth participation in the 2020 election.
Despite the impact of policy decisions made by successive governments affecting young people more, they have historically failed to vote in sufficient numbers that would make a difference (Levy, & Akiva, 2019). Instead, people who could not otherwise be employed by corporations due to their advanced age are entrusted with voting and leading Americans (Daniller, & Mutz, 2019). To encourage young people to participate in elections in the US, researchers propose outreach programs from a young age, and the use of social media, among several others (Persily & Stewart, 2021). Those suggestions will be explored through this research and expanded further.
Conclusion and Summary
The continued existence of the US as a strong democracy will require the building up of trust in public institutions and democratic processes. As the polarization and politicization of issues have shown currently, not much can be done when the country is divided. This research paper contributes to the building of public trust in democratic processes in the US by proposing ways to ensure the integrity of the Presidential election is not questioned and that participation by young people increases. The proposed solution to the integrity issue will also contribute to a cohesive society able to support initiatives by the government in power for the betterment of all people.
References
Brown, M., Forson, L., Hale, K., Smith, R., & Williamson, R. D. (2020). Capacity to address natural and man-made vulnerabilities: The administrative structure of U.S. Election System Security. Election Law Journal: Rules, Politics, and Policy, 19(2), 180–199. Web.
Daniller, A., & Mutz, D. (2019). The dynamics of electoral integrity a three-election panel study. Public Opinion Quarterly, 83(1), 46-67. Web.
Garnett, H., & James, T. (2020). Measuring electoral integrity: using practitioner knowledge to assess elections. Taylor & Francis Online, 31(3). Web.
Levy, B., & Akiva, T. (2019). Motivating political participation among youth: An analysis of factors related to adolescents’ political engagement. Educational Theory and Practice Faculty Scholarship. 31. Web.
Mochtak, M., Lesschaeve, C., & Glaurdić, J. (2021). Voting and winning: Perceptions of electoral integrity in consolidating democracies. Taylor & Francis Online, 28(8). Web.
Persily, N., & Stewart, C. (2021). The miracle and tragedy of the 2020 U.S. election. Journal of Democracy, 32(2), 159–178. Web.