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Podcasts Take Two
Why do people decide not to exercise their right to vote?
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May 21, 2013
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Why do people decide not to exercise their right to vote?
Why people fail to vote has been question studied for decades. One group of voting researchers even got the US Census bureau to include a question about voting in its surveys.
LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 05:  Joe Cigliano stand sin the voting booth as he casts his ballot at Allesandro Elemantary School on March 5, 2013 in Boyle Heights area Los Angeles, California. Turnout is expected to be very low among the city’s 1.8 million making a run off at the end of May all but certain. Los Angeles City Councilman Eric Garcetti and  Controller Wendy Greuel are locked in a close tie for the lead in the Los Angeles mayoral primary. The top two vote getters will face each other in a run-off in late May.  (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
Joe Cigliano stand sin the voting booth as he casts his ballot at Allesandro Elemantary School on March 5, 2013 in Boyle Heights area Los Angeles, California.
(
Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images
)

Why people fail to vote has been question studied for decades. One group of voting researchers even got the US Census bureau to include a question about voting in its surveys.

Why people fail to vote has been question studied for decades. One group of voting researchers even got the US Census bureau to include a question about voting in its surveys.

RELATED: Charting voter turnout for mayoral elections

Michael Alvarez is a political science professor at Cal Tech, and he's part of the CalTech/MIT Voting Technology Project. They're the group that convinced the Census Bureau to ask that voting question.