Fried quoted in Pew Stateline article about voter turnout
The Pew Charitable Trusts Stateline blog quoted Amy Fried, a professor and chair of the political science department at the University of Maine, in the article “Here’s Why Texas Voter Turnout Was So Low and Why It’s Surging Now.” Texas has a longstanding record of low voter turnout, in part due to a large percentage of the population comprising young people and Latinos, who are less likely to vote than the general population, the article states. A voter ID requirement enacted in 2013, among other logistical barriers, also has contributed to low turnout in the state’s past. This year, however, early voting sites in Texas have seen long lines, which could contribute to an increase in turnout for the midterm elections. And national nonprofit Voto Latino has registered 52,000 voters in Texas this election cycle, according to Pew. High voter turnout is typical in other states, like Maine, which had a nearly 59 percent voter turnout for the 2014 midterm elections. This is influenced by factors like high numbers of older white voters in the state, who may be retired and have more time to vote, or may be passionate about protecting services like Social Security and Medicare, the article states. Mainers frequently interact at town meetings and have fiercely defended their stake in government for more than two decades, said Fried. For example, in 2011, Maine residents voted to overturn a law to abolish same-day voter registration. “They are all just very involved,” said Fried. HuffPost and Herald-Mail Media carried the Pew article.