It seems like I keep hearing from friends and colleagues about their decreasing faith in our elections, the electoral process, and the future of free and fair elections in America. Not only do we need to concern ourselves with the quality of candidates presented to us as voters and the unwillingness of so many elected officials to pass the baton, we must now wonder if the election results actually reflect the will of the people. These concerns have contributed to apathy and disinterest from a myriad of voters, which is of great concern to me as a political scientist and as someone who cares about the future of American democracy.
I am constantly thinking of ways to instill voter confidence into conversations with my students, friends, and family members. The 2024 presidential election has clearly shown so many that elections can have severe consequences that can affect all levels and branches of government, domestic and international policy, as well as future possibilities of economic survival in this nation. So how do I inspire, encourage, persuade, and or force those I care about to invest more in the democratic process? How can I make sure people in my orbit are educated about issues, candidates, and consequences each election cycle? Equally as important, how do I help my students, friends, and family see voting as an opportunity for change and not a time-consuming chore that as of late has yielded uninspiring results.
I have had several conversations with my friend and colleague, political consultant Bradley Tusk about mobile voting, that is, allowing voters to vote on their phones. He has a recent TED talk where he walks us through the benefits of mobile voting in order to increase voter participation, and in some instances, voter confidence in the system. Since so much of the candidate selection happens in the primaries, we must encourage people to participate in the primary process in order to get more people involved in the selection process of candidates and possibly move our politics to better serve larger groups of people.
I am not fully sold on the idea, largely because I am never an early adopter of anything and a luddite. I still write hand written letters and have an iPhone 13 with no plans to change either of those allegiances. However, as I hear more and more people in my inner circle lament about the quality of candidates and those in office, polarizing politics, the security of their vote, or the time consuming and arduous process of voting at their polling station, I am warming to the idea.
Mobile voting is not intended to remove the traditional voting process, it would be an additive process to increase participation. Something for us to think about indeed.
Christina Greer, Ph.D., is an associate professor at Fordham University; author of book “How to Build a Democracy: From Fannie Lou Hamer and Barbara Jordan to Stacey Abrams” and “Black Ethnics: Race, Immigration, and the Pursuit of the American Dream” and is co-host of the podcast FAQ-NYC.