My Newest Political Policy
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by Jaz Razzle
While I was compiling the results form the Congressional elections, I noticed the disturbingly low numbers of voter turnouts. One state was as low as 15.91%. I am aware that many players become inactive over time, but to be quite honest I am not satisfied with only 1174 citizens voting out of a potential pool of more than 3500 citizens.
It is my opinion that no institution can accurately gauge public opinion, and thus act effectively on that opinion, when so few people express their views. The right to vote is one of the most powerful tools a citizen can have.
Therefore, my newest policy is to encourage higher voter turnouts. During the presidential elections, I will message every single eligible voter in the State of Maryland, encouraging them to vote. I implore citizens from other states to do the same.
I am not sure what incentives I can offer, to increase voter turnouts, but citizens already gain an extra 2 EP just for voting. One possibility to be considered, is lowering the level required to vote. It is currently at Level 6. Lowering this requirement would allow newer citizens to vote, hopefully developing an early interest in the politics of eRepublik. I do understand the possible negative consequences of this action, as we would have more inexperienced voters basing their decisions on any premise, that may not be related to policy or political agenda.
Perhaps instead of lowering the voting level, we could allow new citizens to be involved in a political party. I do not understand why a citizen must wait until they have 40 experience points, before they enter into a political party. Many people who play eRepublik already have strong political views, and forcing them to wait until they have reached level 7, seems very counterproductive.
Allowing citizens of a lower level to enter a political party would give a much greater sense of involvement, as all they can do right now is talk on forums, without having any official recognition of their involvement in politics.
Well, that's just my 2 cents worth.
I look forward to hearing opinions on this and welcome any ideas or suggestions that you may have.
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Comments
I guess I'm not the only person concerned with voter turnout! I think people should be able to join political parties earlier. I'm not sure that lowering voting requirements would help much - the idea is that you become more interested in the game the longer you play. Not sure that's true, but it sound good in theory.
Join the already active discussion over here:
http://www.erepublik.com/en/article/appathy-or-holidays--714296/1
"but citizens already gain an extra 2 EP just for voting"
You get 1 EP for placing a vote...
In terms of dropping the voting age I'd say my opinion on it tips the scales towards going for it. Both arguments have their pros and cons but I'd say it is something worthy of trying.
There are a lot of statistics that people get that I have no clue where they manage to find them. People with newspapers somehow can tell how many subscribers they have and their national rank. I have a newspaper and have no idea where to find that despite looking. I tried to find a list of eligible voters in my state as well. No clue...
If these statistics are available so easily and readily then I definitely support anyone willing to use them. Kudos on the idea of sending messages to every eligible voter!
100% Agree. I understand the voting requirement, like the age requirement in the real USA. But i already have political views and it is stupid that i cannot join a political party.
To find the eligible voters in your state go to your state rankings - Anyone at level 6 or higher (35 points)is eligible.
http://wiki.erepublik.com/index.php/Experience_points
I did send out messages, not only to eligible voters, but also to those right near the line on that. Sadly, only six people voted in eArkansas.
Unfortunately, I think some of the turn-out numbers are going to be very off for this election, as it was held on Christmas and many people were unable to, or had no desire to bother with a game on that day.
I make a point to message all of the citizens of eArkansas on a semi-regular basis, offer to friend them, and I keep an eye on who has jobs and who doesn't, to see if I can help out in that regard. These are great ways to make people feel welcome and that they are a part of an actual community.
@Don: The statistics are a little hidden, but you can find them. If you go to the "INFO" tab, then "Rankings" you can select a single region of any country and view the EXP of each citizen there. You can use that as a guide to who has enough EXP to be a high enough level to vote.
I messaged everyone in Montana who was close to voting or were able to vote. I also offered to friend them. Still - seven whole votes out of 17! I hope like heck that it was a Christmas aberration.
@Lothair: I would like to think that these low results are due to the fact that the elections were held on Christmas, but unfortunately this trend appears to be very common. I understand that the results for this election were lower than average because of Christmas, but every election seems to have a very low voter turnout, whether it be party president, congressional or presidential elections. Apart from sending messages, I am not sure what else I can do. I do not believe that offering incentives is the right way to go, and as you mentioned, messaging only has a limited effect.