US vote undecided and abstention still a major problem

Challenger Joe Biden appears to have a small lead, but a final vote tally seems days away to many. After that, long and tortuous court battles could ensue, creating more animosity in an already deeply-divided nation.

In a bit of good news voter turnout is projected to be the highest since the year 1900. The bad news is that’s it’s only going to be about 65%, and might still be just below the average rate among developed countries. 

Since the 1970s voter turnout has averaged just 54%. By comparison, since 1997 Iran’s presidential turnout rate has been 74%. The low turnout is attributed to a massive alienation from the political process among America’s poor and minority classes. 

Analysts say that if the 2020 presidential election is not decided fairly and transparently, it could drop voter turnout for a generation. Minorities pinned major hopes on Donald Trump’s predecessor, but his perceived failures has disillusioned many, and younger voters especially.

America’s Latino population is now almost 50% higher than the African-American population, yet Latino voter turnout is a whopping 40% lower than the combined rate of Whites and Blacks. Latinos often decry how they are virtually invisible in American culture, and how they hold very few positions of political power, fuelling abstention. 

The unprecedented turnout of 2020 is being attributed to the controversial use of mail-in ballots, whose legitimacy will seemingly be publicly decided by the time this election is over. Perhaps mail-in ballots increase opportunities for fraud, but perhaps they are a valid tool which can be used to help solve the perpetually-high abstention rates in the United States.