Give+Us+an+Hour+(Jeff,+Bach,+Will,+Thea)

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V o t e r Turnout Proposal
==== Voter turnout in Philadelphia has historically been weak (http://whyy.org/cms/news/government-politics/2010/11/02/moderate-voter-turnout-in-philadelphia/50012). There might be an abundance of reasons for this, but a major one is undoubtedly the inconvenience of voting on a Tuesday, when one must coordinate traveling to and from the voting booths with work, school and family responsibilities. It is not enough to make polling places near peoples’ homes and simply hope that they will find time in the day to actually go and vote. An activity as fundamental to our democracy as voting must be given some “special treatment.” ====

It is imperative that Mayor Nutter urges businesses to allow workers an hour off during work hours to vote. Voter turnout in Philadelphia cannot possibly improve if workers are not given special time during their day to vote. In order to prevent workers abusing this freedom, polling places could give out special “I voted” stickers or stamps to people who vote, allowing employers to ensure that their workers are properly using their free time to vote. Employers could easily implement their own methods of disciplining employees who take time off but cannot prove they voted.

An hour may strike some as an unnecessarily long, considering that voting booths are placed so close to peoples’ houses, but lines at voting booths can often be quite lengthy. Not only that, but having a set amount of time allotted for voting—however long—will keep people from feeling as though they have to choose between not voting at all or not coming into work at all, since coming in late to work without permission is such an unpleasant situation. In other words, allowing workers an hour off during the day to vote gives Philadelphia the “best of both worlds”—workers can vote without having to get in trouble or use their free time, and are not made to feel that they must decide between voting or keeping their job performance up. Employers also have an easy way of ensuring that their employees do not abuse their free time, whereas when employees must miss work without permission to vote, the trust between worker and boss is damaged and employees feel resentment towards their employers. Simply giving workers an hour off on Election Day strengthens both our democracy and boss-employee relationships, and makes everyone’s lives easier. It’s good for employees, it’s good for employers, and it’s good for Philadelphia. 

R e b u t t a l Paper ====In history, voting has always been an important topic. Many people in the past had fought so hard for those who deserved the right to vote, to have suffrage. But today, people are walking away from this result. Percentage of voters casted their votes are still very low compare to the number of eligible voters. The question is now turning into “How do to get people to cast their votes?” instead of “How to get the vote to people?”. There is a suggestion from a group of youths, who are passionate about the issue of increasing number of eligible voters to cast their vote. These youths’ idea was to “Urgent to Mayor to urge all businesses to allow people coming to work late, or having an extra hour of lunch break for voting and still get paid”. It sounds as it would make an impact, but here is how its downwards sink itself: ====

 First, the majority of businesses are private, which means that the mayor would not have a very significant influence about their decisions. Besides, no business owners would eager to spend money just to get their employees to cast the votes - the votes that are not compulsory. Even if government-related business offices would not do such things during this sensitive time period, when people are whining violently about spending of tax money. In other words, letting people going to work late or having extra lunch hour and still get paid should be considered a wreck of public money. As of here, unless these youths show these businesses owners and the public their plan of fundraising for the money that is going to be spent, their wonderfully thoughtful idea could hereby be denied.

 Seconds, voting is a right that every citizen, who is 18 or over, is enfranchised in law to participate, unless otherwise specify by the government. Therefore, people should not be rewarded for exercising their right, since they get paid for late or extra hours. Also, history had shown the struggle of how people had battled to find suffrage for those who are today refused to vote. It is outrageous for people to get paid for casting the votes that they had struggled years to have, the votes that are not required, the votes that are their right to exercise, the votes that give them the right to choose who would have impact on their lives.

 Third, people supposed to vote in an assigned poll site, which should be located within their neighborhood or community. These places mostly would be local schools, community or religious center, which people either know how to get to, or pass by everyday on their way to work, located minutes away from their homes. Therefore, traveling should not be an obstacle. Plus, poll sites are open hours long, from seven a.m to eight p.m for most places, some even open until midnight. In addition, lining up for registration should not be an issue either. Waiting in line should not be as long as waiting at Pat’s, where people are heartfelt to stand there faithfully hours after hours only for one famous cheese steak. It is here clear that people use location and long line as excuses.

 Ultimately, giving people a chance to take advantages of the right that they had battled for is not a right idea to implement. Focuses on people’s working business is considerate, but it is only the floating part of the iceberg. Instead, encouraging people to vote as showing them how their votes could impact their own lives, and specially how people had died just for them to have these votes today that they are denying. Most importantly, consider the bigger circle of it, the root cause for people to choose not to cast their votes. Giving an answer to the problem as it appears is helpful, in short term; but for a long run, things would only change once the system is changed.