Presidential Elections and Voter Turnout

In some states, additional reforms have also allowed for same day registration, which allows voters to register at the voting booths on Election Day. Each of these liberties allowed for more people to become involved in government. However, following each of these changes, voter turnout dropped dramatically because new voters were not motivated to use their new voting abilities. So, all of the attempts to increase voter turnout by increasing eligibility and making registration easier were unsuccessful. Unfortunately, increasing the number of people who can vote doesn't increase voting interest.
             The media has also played a large part in the effort to mobilize voters. Originally, newspapers and social events where the main way of informing the voter about political candidates. With the invention of new technologies like the radio, television, and the internet, media coverage of political campaigns has increased accessibility to political information tenfold. This is a plus because more people can access knowledge about political candidates than ever before, but this can be a blessing as much as a curse.
             Since the creation of political campaigns, negative portrayals of candidates have been around. Advertisements and news stations attack opposing candidates, putting out content that shows politicians as unfit for office. This ends with both candidates being portrayed in a negative way, as well as damaging interest in government because neither candidate appears to be worthy of office. This makes voting a decision between the lesser of two evils, as opposed to picking the best person for the job. The spread of radio, television, and internet access increased the number of people who can view these negative political campaigns. According to Thomas Patterson's survey, the "cumulative effect of negative politics, campaign after campaign, is reduced interest in the election." And worse still, the survey also reveled that 62 percent of Americans view political campaigns "more like theater or entertainment than something to be taken seriously.