Join us at Habitat Tavern and Commons as we partner with UNC Asheville to learn about our electoral systems on Tuesday, Nov. 6!
Dr. Ashley Moraguez (Political Science) and Dr. Patrick Bahls (Math and Honors Program) present:
“Why Do / Don’t People Vote? And What Can Go Wrong With Voting, Anyway?”
Since it’s Election Day, tonight we’ll consider elections with UNC Asheville Professors Ashley Moraguez (Political Science) and Patrick Bahls (Mathematics).
Fifty-five percent of eligible voters turned out to vote in 2016, a 20-year low for presidential elections. Turnout in the 2014 midterms was just 36.4 percent, the lowest since World War II. Why are turnout rates so low in the US, especially relative to other advanced democracies? And, let’s assume for a second that we managed to hold an election completely free of fraud and unfairness, that everyone who’s allowed to vote does so and does so only once. Can we go home and pat ourselves on the back for a successful dose of democracy?
Tonight we’ll talk about Arrow’s Theorem, Duverger’s Law, and Donald Saari’s geometric analysis of positional systems in order to learn just how much can go wrong with a seemingly ordinary election. And, we’ll discuss the paradox of voting in the United States, explore some of the individual and institutional factors that determine turnout, and discuss the implications they have for our democracy.
https://www.facebook.com/events/755689254767977/