Voter turnout for the 2014 midterm election was the lowest since World War II in 1942. Only 36.4% of eligible voters casted their votes this election (DelReal). Voter participation has been a problem the early twentieth century. America won the revolution and broke its ties with Britain’s monarchical ways for very specific reasons. Reasons clearly stated in the Declaration of Independence (Jefferson 259-267). The American people wanted a government that protected their rights and gave them the ability to select someone who represented them best to lead them. The ability to vote on our representatives and add or changes laws is what America started for. Low voter turnout is preventing any sort of change in our government system. Voter turnout can be split into two problems- attitude and accessibility. Voting is a key part in the democratic system and it is important to address and attempt to reform the system to benefit the citizens of the United States.
When the Constitution was ratified in 1787, the voting policies and presidential regulations were set. According to section two of Article two of the Constitution, in order to be a president her or she must be over 35, a natural born U.S. citizen, and must have lived in the United States for at least fourteen years ("The Constitution of the United States " 85). If the president meets the requirements, he or she is allowed to run for office. The first thing a candidate usually does is develop a political action committee to help the candidate to come up with and plan their political campaign. In these beginning steps, the candidate needs to make sure he or she appeals nationwide and can afford the extremely expensive campaigns. After finalizing the decision to run for president and when you start to receive donations or start to spend money in excess of $5,000, the candidate must register with the Federal Election Commission. After registering you must declare your candidacy publicly.