Illustration by Ji Ko, contributing illustrator
Hannah Richey Senior Staff Reporter [email protected] |  |
It’s primary season and there’s a lot of discussion regarding how they work and how voting contributes to or inhibits our democracy.
The major issue that arises with caucuses is that they take place during the workday. Voters have to set aside a large amount of time for them, which is problematic for service workers.
Voter I.D. laws also demand certain types of identification in order to cast a ballot, which primarily prevent older Black people and Native Americans from voting. This is due in part by requirements to get an I.D., including needing physical mailbox addresses and birth certificates.
Another issue is the physical accessibility of polling places for disabled people, usually the mobility impaired. Many polling places are churches, which do not have to be compliant with the Americans With Disabilities Act.
Primaries and caucuses are both held before the general election, and they both operate in different ways.
Caucuses are held in only a few states, with the majority holding traditional primary elections. Caucuses operate by having representatives of a candidate at a given polling place to encourage voters to their side to be counted.
There are two rounds to a caucus. During the first-round voters go to their candidate’s section and are counted. If a candidate has less than 15% of the total number of caucus attendees, they are no longer considered “viable” and voters for them are able to change their vote or encourage other voters to come to their side, so they become viable.
Voters for candidates with over 15% are not able to change their vote.
After the second-round, votes are tallied and the delegates for the state are divided.Candidates who garnered less than 15% of the vote receive no delegates.
Caucus votes are not secret. Everyone can see where voters are during a caucus, making some people uncomfortable or unable to participate due to the fact they may have a spouse that doesn’t want them voting a certain way.
Primaries are a traditional secret ballot. Voters go to their polling place and ask for the ballot of the party they want to vote on and fill it out.
This is a more accessible way of voting for most since it doesn’t normally take as long as caucusing. There are problems that arise mostly due to voter I.D. laws and accessibility.
In order to ensure everyone can participate in our democracy and vote their conscience, we need to maintain accessibility.
This can be done by doing away with caucuses altogether to allow for secret ballot voting.
We can also have more time for people to vote. This reduces the time constraint for workers so they can cast their ballot when they’re able to. It can be more days to vote or leaving polling places open for longer.
People also need to be able to enter their polling place. If someone knows their polling place is inaccessible, they need to be able to go where it is.
Democracy depends on people voting, and the United States has uniquely low voter turnout likely for the reasons listed before. This is fixable but there needs to be a push for fixing it.
