Hey check this out Democratic Elections

 One of the articles that I found most interesting was the one about US elections and how they compare to the rest of the democratic world. The main problem with our elections compared to those of other democratic nations is that our election administration is very decentralized, meaning that there isn’t one group that monitors our elections, rather many different groups for each state. A result of this is that in America we often have many different elections for different positions going on at the exact same time, all with different rules and procedures. Another problem that stems from having different groups in charge of managing elections is that they often make decisions based on partisan policy and try to further their own beliefs, rather than the will of the people. Our election system is in direct contrast to the one in Canada where all of the elections work the same, no matter where you live. (Ex. No counties have mail-in voting while others don’t have it) Another major difference between the elections here and in Canada is that our ballots are much longer due to the sheer quantity of elections that are going on at once. Something else that is odd about our elections is that we have a much lower percentage of people that show up to actually vote than other similar democracies. (this is not nearly as true this year as we had record turnout in many states for this presidential election, but the point still stands.)  This year we had a surge in the number of early votes and mail-in votes because this is such an important election but because of our decentralized election administration many mail-in votes and regular votes for that matter are being disputed and some people are attempting to throw mail-in votes out in certain areas. In other democratic nations mail-in ballots are being counted but due to the doubt sown in people’s minds by the President people's trust in them has started to deteriorate in recent years as they have been told that they are easy to rig. Elections are only as good as they are trusted, if people do not trust the results of an election then they will take validity away from elected officials and take away power from them. This election has even differed from elections in the United States in the past as the projected loser of the election has refused to give a speech conceding victory to his opponent. Instead, he has disputed the results of the election and protested that he won and attempted to stop the counting of further votes.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

voting

 a basic human right in our democracy is our right to vote. the 2020 election is an interesting one because of the pandemic mail in voting is going to be used more than ever. even though there is no real evidence of fraud with mail in voting, there is a fear that there will be. in fact, people fear that people will be so intimidated that they may stay home and not vote. voting is such an important right that we have and we must exercise it. people really need to vote for this election because it is so polarized. it is my first time to vote and i look forward to my voting experience.  https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/30/us/trump-election-poll-watchers.html
Read more

Features of Human Rights- Police Brutality (Willow Carter)

 Over the past several months the Black Lives Matter protests have been going on across the country, bringing many systemic issues to light. Most prominently, it has brought the issue of police brutality into the minds of many people, and also how the police are treating protestors. I believe that the actions of many police officers during many protests are violating the declaration of human rights.  Since the protests began in June, there have also been hundreds of reports against the police for using excessive force on peaceful protestors. Along with that, the use of rubber bullets, pepper spray, and tear gas has been widespread among police. This is within violation of article 5 of the declaration of human rights, which states: "No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment.". There are dozens of videos of police treating protestors and journalists in ways that can be considered cruel and inhumane. Most notable to me was a video I saw of...
Read more

Features of Human Rights: Abortion as a human right

  An issue I find very interesting in regards to the discussion around human rights is the controversy around abortion. Specifically in the U.S., the ruling on Roe V. Wade as well as different restrictions made on abortions in more recent years.  There is a fascinating argument for abortion as a form of health care, this falling under the general umbrella of article 25; refering to having a living standard adequate to maintain health and wellbeing of self and family, and right to security in the cirumstances of a lack of livelihood out of the individual’s control. Pregnancy has the potential to greatly affect a woman’s health, as well as ability to maintain an income to sustain herself or her family. It also could fall under article 23, since pregnancy is an obstacle that specifically prevents women from participating in the work force the same as men.  Universal- The right to healthcare, as well as the right to be able to work and maintain a livelihood is universal, and...
Read more