RCL #9 Ted Talk Script Draft

Ted Talk about voting

1. Intro
   1. 47 million people didn’t vote from 2012 to 2014
      1. why?
   2. This isn’t a recent trend
      2012. On a national scale, about 83% of able voters went to Presidential polls in 1876, yet only 53% of the voting population voted in the Presidential election in 2012.
            1. Decrease in voter turnout
      2013. Why is there a lack of voter turnout?
            1. Registration
               1. Too lazy to register
               2. Would vote, but aren’t registered
                  1. Talk about compulsory voting system
                  2. Talk about same day registration
               3. Representation
                  1. People don’t feel represented by the actual candidates
                     1. 2 polarized parties
                        1. people don’t know about the other parties
                        2. even if people know about them, people may not vote for them because they don’t have a great likelihood of surpassing the 2 giants
                           1. broken system
                           2. people can’t vote for what they want
                        3. 2016 people voted for who they disliked less
                     2. Education
                        1. About candidates
                           1. People don’t take the time to learn about candidates besides listening to the debates
                           2. People don’t read policies or understand candidates besides knowing their first and last name, what they look like and maybe their party affiliation
                        2. Of the electorate themselves
                           1. Relationship between college degree and going out to vote
                        3. Why are local elections so important
                           1. Directly impact us
                              1. Public safety
                              2. Roads
                                 1. Snow fall
                                 2. Upkeep

• Education
  1. Policy decisions, what schools are being built and upkept

1. Information
   1. Electing local officials committed to communicating with citizens, effective way of knowing what is going on at town hall
2. Money
   1. Voting in local elections determines who will be spending our tax money
3. What is being done to encourage voter turnout
   1. community participation, specifically with adolescents and mid age citizens, however, by incorporating these age groups into the government by hosting events for citizens to get more involved
   2. introduction
   3. visibility
   4. more up to date websites
   5. getting involved in congregated spaces to talk about local issues
4. how can you make a difference?
   1. Community projects local citizens are doing
   2. Showing up town halls
   3. Reading the paper
   4. Learning about the candidates
   5. VOTING !!!
5. Why now?
   1. Dissent discourse
   2. Global shifts
   3. Trend is going to continue