McDonald is associate professor of government and politics in the Department of Public and International Affairs at George Mason University. He tracks voter turnout rates and is working with colleagues to develop open-source redistricting software through the Public Mapping Project. Are there any misconceptions about voter turnout?
People used to calculate turnout rates by dividing the number of people who voted divided by the “voting-age population,” which is everyone age 18 and older residing in the U.S. That’s not a very good definition — there’s a substantial noncitizen population and a nonvoting felon population that had been growing over time.
So what happened?
Using bad numbers led to bad conclusions. People were concerned that there was a downward trend in voter turnout, when it was the ineligible population that was rising.
What about now?
By my way of calculating turnout rates, not only is turnout not declining, in the past couple of presidential elections, voter participation is near the highest levels we have seen in a century.
What accounts for that?
There’s a lot going on out there: more early voting, new voter mobilization efforts, and improved administration of elections. It is difficult to say what is causing what. And this is not to say that we can’t do better — we can always do better.
Talk about the Public Mapping Project. Why is engaging the public in tracking the redistricting process important?
Let me give you an example. Back after the 1990s and after the L.A. riots, Koreatown had suffered as much as the rest of L.A. had suffered. When they went to the state legislature for help, they discovered that their community had been split among multiple districts. They couldn’t find an ally. No legislator felt they represented the community. This is the problem. Redistricting is a political insiders’ game, to the detriment of the public interest.
— David Sherfinski
