User:Murat39e/sandbox

I'm working on the following three articles.

= Voter Turnout =

Lubna's Comments: Nice work, I like that you have drafted your thoughts out simply and can easily add more content to improve the page. I was wondering if this is one wikipedia article with three sections, or if you're writing three brand new articles. Lubnasebastian (talk) 07:10, 29 November 2016 (UTC)

Thanks! They're actually three distinct pre-existing articles that I'm working to improve.Murat39e (talk) 21:26, 6 December 2016 (UTC)

Reasons for Decline
"When asked why they do not vote, many people report that they have too little free time. However, over the last several decades, studies have consistently shown that the amount of leisure time has not decreased.[citation needed]"

Lubna's Comment: Make sure you preface the quote above with something neutral, like "Decline in voter turnout can be attributed to lack of time to cast a ballot" Lubnasebastian (talk) 07:10, 29 November 2016 (UTC) Reply: That's actual a quote from the existing article, so my goal is to add a source to back up the claim. Murat39e (talk) 21:27, 6 December 2016 (UTC) I'm going to follow up on this sentence with:

According to a study by the Heritage Foundation, Americans report on average an additional 7.9 hours of leisure time per week since 1965.

Furthermore, according to a study by the National Bureau of Economic Research, increases in wages and employment actually decrease voter turnout in gubernatorial elections and do not affect national races.

At the end of the paragraph I will add:

Google extensively studied the causes behind low voter turnout in the United States, and argues that one of the key reasons behind lack of voter participation is the so-called "interested bystander". According to Google's study, 48.9% of adult Americans can be classified as "interested bystanders", as they are politically informed but are reticent to involve themselves in the civic and political sphere. This category is not limited to any socioeconomic or demographic groups. Google theorizes that individuals in this category suffer from Voter apathy, as they are are interested in political life but believe that their individual effect would be negligible. These individuals often participate politically on the local level, but shy away from national elections.

Effect of timing on election results and voter turnout.

"The decline in voter turnout is almost wholly concentrated among working age voters.[citation needed]"

Follow up with: Voter turnout rates seem to correlate with wealth more than anything.

= Voter apathy =

Background
I will add to the end of the section:

On the other hand, Hunter College professor Jamie Chandler claims that voter apathy, or disinterest in the political system, is overstated in regards to socioeconomic factors. Wealth and educational attainment correlate most strongly with voter participation.

New section:

Civic Technology
Civic technology seeks to counteract the effects of voter apathy through more modern means, such as social media, applications, and websites. Many startups within the field of civic technology attempt to connect voters to politicians and government, in an attempt to boost voter participation and turnout. Examples include PopVox in the United States and mySociety in the United Kingdom. A John S. and James L. Knight Foundation report found that $431 million had been invested in civic tech as a whole from January 2011 through May 2013, with $4 million specifically invested in voting technologies.

For the 2016 US Presidential election, Facebook implemented reminders to register to vote in its social network. Several election officials have claimed that these efforts significantly increased voter registration.

= Get out the vote =

Get out the vote in practice
The guide to grassroots elections Get Out the Vote determined that GOTV efforts yielded one vote every 15 door knocks ($31 dollars per vote), 189 pieces of direct mail ($91 dollars per vote), or 35 phone calls ($35 dollars per vote).

Other studies have found that GOTV methods contribute little to none to voter turnout. One field experiment found that GOTV phone calls were largely ineffective, and that ease of access to polling locations had the largest impact on voter turnout.

There is also the argument that GOTV targets a more affluent demographic, which is already more likely to vote. Less politically engaged demographic and socioeconomic groups are sometimes neglected in GOTV efforts.

GOTV is often most effective when potential voters are told to do so "because others will ask" Voters will then go to the polls as a means of fulfilling perceived societal expectations. Paradoxically, informing voters that turnout is expecting to be high was found to increase actual voter turnout, while predicting lower turnouts actually resulted in less voters.

Jurgen's Comments:

I love the majority of the work that you have done. I have a few improvements that I think will strengthen your article additions.

For "Voter Turnout", where you talk about google I would change "Google studied the causes behind low voter turnout in the United States in a publication titled Understanding America's "Interested Bystander:" A Complicated Relationship with Civic Duty". Google argues that 48.9% of adult Americans can be classified as "interested bystanders", as they are politically informed but are reticent to involve themselves in the civic and political sphere." The first sentence sounds like something you would find in an analytical paper. This sentence sounds almost like a thesis, however, for this type of writing you don't need to introduce your references.

Also, add citations to areas that say "[citation needed]" because it will help solidify the article as a whole. It is also a good way to use more sources that might have been overlooked by the author or unable to viewed by the author.

For this section it appears as if you have used primarily peer-reviewed sources which is very good.

For "Voter Apathy" you can 100% expand on this section a lot and make this into a dense part of the article. Is "Wealth and educational attainment correlate most strongly with voter participation." information you found in that same article because this needs a citation. Civil technologies in relation to voter apathy is a very large subject with a lot of information so I know that you can expand on this section and offer readers good sources that are only available to Cal students.

For "Get out the Vote" once again I would simply expand on the section you chose to elaborate on because the article as a whole is very short, with only about 6 or so sections. Other than that, good information and good sources.

Good work!

Murat's Reply:

Thanks! Yeah I'm definitely gonna simplify that first part. The part that said [citation needed] was actual taken from the original article. I drafted a sentence (and a citation) to come after it to back up that claim.

The claim of the correlation between wealth and education attainment actually came from the preceding citation, but you're right it would make sense to place the citation after this sentence.

I'll definitely try to expand that new section on civic technology in the article on voter apathy, thanks! Murat39e (talk) 21:32, 6 December 2016 (UTC)

= Online Voting (new article) = Online Voting is a form of voting in which ballots are transmitted over the Internet. It falls under the category of electronic voting. Online voting is currently being implemented in several countries and US states, although it faces criticism over fears of security vulnerabilities.

Overview
Estonia was the first country to offer online voting in 2005. In its inaugural year, 1.9% of voters voted online. By 2015, this number rose to 30.5%. Switzerland offers online voting for citizens living abroad. In 2013, online primary elections were held in France, although they proved to be a failure due to the ease with which fraudulent votes were cast.

A 2015 study by the World Bank found that online voting increased voter turnout rates by 8.2% for an election in Brazil.

United States
The Federal Election Commission has studied the viability of online voting in the US since at least 2003. Thirty-one US States allow online voting for citizens with special circumstances, such as expatriates, deployed military personnel, and astronauts. Alaska was the first state to provide online voting for all eligible citizens.

Controversy
Online voting has faced much criticism for being too insecure for practical use. In the case of Estonia, a group of researches claimed to have gained access to the online voting system without having been detected by law enforcement officials. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, voter databases in at least twenty US states were targeted by groups affiliated with the Russian government. Furthermore, while Alaska now allows online voting for all eligible residents, voters who opt to do so are not guaranteed the secrecy of their ballot. The Canadian government examined the emergence of online voting systems in various provinces, and found the lack of transparency to be more problematic than any particular security flaws. The California Secretary of State conducted a study on the feasibility of internet voting, and found that an online system could potentially improve voter turnout, but would not be able to reach the same level of security as paper ballots.

= References =