by Stacey Sheridan

“It is disheartening when people don’t vote”

During the 2019 runoff election, Chicagoans witnessed history in the making as two African American women vied to become the city’s first female mayor of color. On April 2, voters elected Lori Lightfoot, making her not only the city’s first black female mayor, but also its first openly gay mayor. And yet, the excitement surrounding the historic election appeared to have little to no bearing on voter turnout. Only 32 percent of Chicago’s registered voters cast ballots. Prior to the runoff, only 33 percent of 1.5 million registered voters actually voted. By all accounts, it was an utterly dismal turnout. However, low voter turnout is not unique to Chicago. Poor turnout is plaguing elections across the nation. So, who or what is to blame? Whose responsibility is it to fix it?

With the rise of so-called “fake news,” it seems almost fashionable to point the finger of blame at journalists. If journalists fail to provide citizens with adequate information regarding not only the election itself, but the platform issues of the running candidates, the voting public will be unable to develop an educated opinion and, without an educated opinion, may abstain from voting on the grounds of being uninformed. However, it isn’t that simple. News outlets report on races indefatigably, informing the public on everything related to the candidates, their platforms and the election itself. So, when people fail to show up on election day, it can be discouraging, not only for politicians and election judges, but for journalists too.

“It is disheartening when people don’t vote,” The New York Times executive editor Dean Baquet said in an intimate panel put on by the DePaul Center for Journalism Integrity & Excellence. “I’m always disappointed that people don’t understand how big a deal an election is and we’re in an election cycle that’s unlike any election cycle in modern times. These are really big deal, important elections. If you choose not to vote because that’s your choice that’s fine, but it’s up to me to make it clear that it’s a big deal, to make it interesting, to make it compelling.”

To do just that, journalists are now going out of their way to come up with inventive ways to get people involved in elections, in addition to traditional election reporting. Paula Friedrich, an interactive producer at WBEZ radio, came up with a simple, but innovative tool for Chicagoans during the mayoral race. Before Lightfoot and Toni Preckwinkle made the runoff ballot, there was a staggering 14 people running for Chicago mayor. It is justifiably difficult for the average civilian to wade through that large pool to find the candidate that aligns most closely to his or her political beliefs. For many people, spending a few hours reading up on candidates and their platforms, although important, does not rank high on to-do lists when they have jobs and other responsibilities that demand their time and attention.

Friedrich understood this predicament and created an online yes-or-no quiz that matched the quiz-taker with the candidate that shared views on issues. Quiz-takers were given an efficient and fun way to whittle down the 14 candidates to just one, without poring over questionnaires, interviews and biographies. But if those taking the quiz wanted to read up on candidates or issues, they could with ease. WBEZ provided the link to the written responses the candidates submitted that were compiled to create the quiz. Each question also included a link that directed those who clicked on it to a page with supplementary information on the pertaining topic.

Journalism outlets don’t have to use slick digital devices to be effective in conveying the importance of elections, while also making the election process easier on people. In fact, one of the best instances of innovation was completely devoid of technology. Ithaca Times, a New York-based weekly newspaper, gained national attention when it put a fully-functional blank voter registration form on the front page of its August 21, 2018 issue. Marshall Hopkins, the production director and designer whose idea it was to put the form on the front page, in lieu of the week’s top stories, received an honorable mention at the 2018 Better Newspaper Contest for the cover. Most importantly, it made registering to vote simple; all readers had to do was cut the form out, write in their information and then mail it out.

Both WBEZ and the Ithaca Times did an excellent job in simplifying the process for the public, and it is likely that publications and media outlets will continue to employ innovative approaches to simplify the process of participating in elections, but journalists cannot be held responsible for fixing the nation’s poor turnout. Journalists can do everything in their power to make the voting process easier on the public, but, when it comes down to it, we cannot frog-march people to their specific polling station and make them cast a ballot. Just like you can lead a horse to water, you can lead a voter to the polls, but you can’t make that horse drink or that voter vote. As disheartening as low turnout is, the role of a journalist is not to mother; journalists can’t force you to eat your vegetables and do your civic duty. All we, as journalists, can do is deliver the information required for citizens to make an educated opinion and maybe try to simplify the process as much as possible. It is the responsibility of the individual to decide for whom or what, or even if, to vote.