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Politics and furniture
Free furniture? NO WAY!
Bernie and Phyls furniture have tried gimmicks to get you to buy their furniture before. They have promised if the Red Sox win the world series they would pay you back for all that furniture you purchased from them. The latest?
Seems simple. Seems rational. It even seems to be promoting a good cause... getting out to vote!
But hold on one second. What do you notice? What do you wonder?
Task 1 + 2 - notice, wonder and estimate
What percentage of the US population do you think will turn out to vote this year? What guided your estimate?
There is not yet an answer for this question, so you may have to do some mathematical estimation (how many older individuals are in the US that most likely will not vote? how many 18-25 years old don't vote? and see what percentage this excludes.
There is not yet an answer for this question, so you may have to do some mathematical estimation (how many older individuals are in the US that most likely will not vote? how many 18-25 years old don't vote? and see what percentage this excludes.
Below is a graph of voter turn out over time
What do you notice?
What do you wonder?
Will voter turn out be above 75%
If yes, are you satisfied?
If no, are you mad? What would be a more attainable percentage?
National voter turnout has not toped 75% since 1896. In the modern era, it is not even close. Since 1964, national voter turnout in Presidential elections has never been higher than 62.8%. Bush v Gore – so tight the courts ultimately decided – saw national turnout at a mere 54.2%. Bush v. Kerry – a paltry 60.1% mid-war. The two Obama contests? 61.6% and 58.2% respectively.
The individual states are just as bad. In the 2000, 2004, 2008, and 2012 Presidential elections only two states every saw voter turnout eclipse 75%. Minnesota did it in ’04, ’08, and ’12. Wisconsin did so in ‘12. And nobody else. Nada. Despite the highest educational rate in the country, Massachusetts was just 66.2% in 2012 and 67.3% in 2008.
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