Reflect on voter participation, campaign financing, and the legitimacy of elections. Also discuss whether financing elections solely with tax dollars and banning contributions from special interest groups and individuals would make elections more representative of the will of the American people. Discuss whether “voter ID laws” have the effect of disenfranchising eligible voters or of protecting the sanctity of elections from fraud. In responding to your classmates, discuss how the low level of voter turnout in American elections can make those elections less legitimate than they would be with higher turnout. Explain and support your position. For your response posts (2), you must do the following:    Reply to at least two different classmates outside of your own initial post thread.   In Module One, complete the two response posts by Sunday at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time.   In Modules Two through Eight, complete the two response posts by Sunday at 11:59 p.m. of your local time zone.   Demonstrate more depth and thought than simply stating that “I agree” or “You are wrong.” Guidance is provided for you in each discussion prompt.  classmates Post #1:   In this discussion, many questions are being raised about elections in general.  Let’s look at these question one at a time:  Voter Participation:  The Soomo web text covered that issue very well.  It stated that a few criteria exist for the participation of voter, and they are usually categorized under a few categories.  Voter Turnout is identified as more than approximately 74 % are college graduates, most who also vote to have annual incomes above 50 k per year also most who vote are older American over the age of 35 years or older.   A lot of the voting is along party line as opposed to the quality of the candidate.  But my feeling is that voters are moving toward voting for the candidate as opposed to the party.  (Evans, J., & Michaud, K) Campaign Financing:  The content is always at the forefront of the news every election cycle.  Monies are being thrown at the candidates and many illegal items come out of the campaigns.   For example;   Lavish Trips, extra activities not associated with the campaign (diner, escorts etc…) Dark money donor is and always have been an issue these monies are not recorded,  this is almost like play money for the campaigns to do what they want,  with whoever they want.   The SuperPAC monies are for the candidate to be influenced in a way that the average person never knows about.  The candidate doesn’t speak of the donation while on the speech tours but the widely influence the route a candidate take after he is elected.  Even in small-town elections the monies from developers, business influences are given being the seen for agendas that no one sees. (Evans, J., & Michaud, K) The legitimacy of Elections and the Voter ID issue goes hand in hand with each other.   Many believe that voter fraud and the id or lack thereof is the biggest is ...

1. Reflect on voter participation, campaign financing, and the
legitimacy of elections. Also discuss whether financing
elections solely with tax dollars and banning contributions from
special interest groups and individuals would make elections
more representative of the will of the American people. Discuss
whether “voter ID laws” have the effect of disenfranchising
eligible voters or of protecting the sanctity of elections from
fraud.
In responding to your classmates, discuss how the low level of
voter turnout in American elections can make those elections
less legitimate than they would be with higher turnout. Explain
and support your position.
For your response posts (2), you must do the following:
Reply to at least two different classmates outside of your
own initial post thread.
In Module One, complete the two response posts by Sunday
at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time.
In Modules Two through Eight, complete the two response
posts by Sunday at 11:59 p.m. of your local time zone.
Demonstrate more depth and thought than simply stating that
“I agree” or “You are wrong.”

2. Guidance is provided for you in each discussion prompt.
classmates Post #1:
In this discussion, many questions are being raised about
elections in general. Let’s look at these question one at a time:
Voter Participation: The Soomo web text covered that issue
very well. It stated that a few criteria exist for the participation
of voter, and they are usually categorized under a few
categories. Voter Turnout is identified as more than
approximately 74 % are college graduates, most who also vote
to have annual incomes above 50 k per year also most who vote
are older American over the age of 35 years or older. A lot of
the voting is along party line as opposed to the quality of the
candidate. But my feeling is that voters are moving toward
voting for the candidate as opposed to the party. (Evans, J., &
Michaud, K)
Campaign Financing: The content is always at the forefront of
the news every election cycle. Monies are being thrown at the
candidates and many illegal items come out of the campaigns.
For example; Lavish Trips, extra activities not associated with
the campaign (diner, escorts etc…) Dark money donor is and
always have been an issue these monies are not recorded, this
is almost like play money for the campaigns to do what they
want, with whoever they want. The SuperPAC monies are for
the candidate to be influenced in a way that the average person
never knows about. The candidate doesn’t speak of the
donation while on the speech tours but the widely influence the
route a candidate take after he is elected. Even in small-town
elections the monies from developers, business influences are
given being the seen for agendas that no one sees. (Evans, J., &

3. Michaud, K)
The legitimacy of Elections and the Voter ID issue goes hand in
hand with each other. Many believe that voter fraud and the id
or lack thereof is the biggest issue that the country has to deal
with in each election cycle. The issues on both sides create
very big debates all over the country. We see that only 35
states have laws that mandate some sore of voter id. The
variations of the id law create issues with absentee ballots and
people showing up to a poll and voting the going to another poll
and voting again. In 2018, 17 states asked for voter id and 17
other states asked for no id at all. Looking at the volume of
ballet it is hard to tell who is legitimate and who is not. (vote
early vote often). In a major city such as Chicago, this motto
has been around for many years. (Underhill, W)
In my option, the special interest groups will always find there
way into the election process someway. By using only tax
dollars to fund campaigns is an unfair ay to have monies from
the federal coffers to be used in the elections. Monies for
elections should be taken on a donation basis only but the hard
part is to have regulatory committees oversee all elections
throughout the country.
Evans, J., & Michaud, K. (2019).
Central ideas in American government
(9th ed.). Asheville, NC: Soomo Learning. Available from
http://www.webtexts.com
Underhill, W. (n.d.). Voter id. Retrieved from
http://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/voter-
id.aspx
classmates Post #2:

4. what I have seen and read is that a lot of decisions and different
viewpoints go into voter participation. Many of us already grow
up with a party identification in terms of what values and
beliefs we have grown up with. I grew up in a liberal household
and so my parents viewpoints did rub off on me. I didn't start
voting in the federal elections till I was 31 and thats only
because I became a US citizen and I was happy for the
opportunity to participate in this very important act. When I
couldn't vote and would see people that could but did not take
the initiative to do so was disappointing. A citizen has the right
to make their voice heard and instead most of them just express
their opinions on social media rather than going to the polls.
One reason that I read in the text for low voter turnout is that
mobility in the United States has increased so people don't take
the initiative to do a change of address for the voter registration
(Evans & Michaud, 2019). I call it laziness, if you can go to the
post office and make an address change for your mail then you
can absolutely do the same for voting. The second reason I read
in the text is a bit more logical but still not an excuse. I agree
that the loss of social capital can have an effect because
connectedness in a community has declined and so many people
just don't feel that need to make change. Most people now
communicate through virtual means and so there isn't this
physical connection to an area that you live in. People also are
bombarded with negative campaign images and that can be
disheartening and so you see that no matter who is voted in they
all have some sort of black mark in their history.
Campaigning does cost money and it's something that I don't
believe our political system can eliminate. How are these people
supposed to travel and talk to voters if they don't have the
money to do it. They also need to advertise and put themselves
out there and without money we would probably never hear
from them or see their faces. Getting voters is a task that takes a
time and money but I also believe that those campaign

5. contributions need to be legitimate. There are many special
interest groups out there that do contribute to elections and I
feel that with those monetary contributions comes a sort of
"now you owe me" mentality. They are attempting to affect
politics in their favor and will expect their candidate to fulfill
those favors if elected into office. Tax dollars shouldn't be used
for an individuals campaign and it should be donations based. A
candidate should have to work hard to secure voters donations. I
believe having an easy ride of using tax money to campaign
would make a candidate lazy and be less proactive with getting
to know their voters because now they don't have to rely on
their donations.
Wherever there can be fraud there will be fraud. This includes
the voting polls. ID laws make sure that every vote is legitimate
and I fully support this. To some it may seem mundane and an
annoyance to have to register to vote and have legitimate
identification but this is what is needed to make sure that those
fraudulent individuals can't slip through the cracks. Security
measures need to be in place so that the sanctity of elections
can be protected and stay protected.
Evans, J., & Michaud, K. (2019).
Central Ideas in American Government
(9th ed). Asheville, NC. Soomo Learning. Retrieved from
http://www.webtexts.com