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When looking at the state of America before the elections it was very shocking to see that such a low percentage of people voted. However, when you take into consideration the process of voting, many things make more sense. For example, the process of registering to vote is a time-intensive procedure that not many have the ability to go through. Some people can’t even afford to leave their jobs to go register due to many reasons, primarily financial problems. 
Several countries have corrupt governments. This corrupt nature of their governments pulls the public away from supporting it.  For example, in Lebanon, our current government is very corrupt and it is very much undesired. Protestors filled the streets in demand for a change and ever since the explosion, on August 4th, the demand has become higher. The people desire a government that does not provide them with economic crises, political instability, explosions, and ongoing health crises without any action to stop them. They want a change for a better Lebanon. 
In Lebanon, the people vote for parliament members, rather than higher government positions (like the president or prime minister). There are also many political parties within the Lebanese government that hold a major influence over many things and therefore a lot of foul play occurs. Furthermore, the same people run over and over again in the elections and no change occurs because of this. All of these factors play a role in contributing to the decrease in voting/ increase in empty ballots.  People no longer care about voting, some, however, continue to vote for the same people because of loyalty to some political parties, or distrust of newcomers to the government office. I believe more people would vote/care if there were new candidates that were independent, not corrupt, and actually have plans to change their country for the better.
When it comes to the idea of running or participating in any political field, many people tend to shy away because of the corruption associated with it, or they join it either with a strong desire to cause a change or for their own personal motives. I do not believe anything would really push someone to run for office unless an important change has occurred or is desired.

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Participating in democracy is always important, especially in this election, where millions of lives were at stake.
I'm glad to see the USA having such a high turnout of 69.9%. Needless to say, there are still 33.1% of eligible voters who didn't vote. This can in part be due to the lack of accessibility. Due to the pandemic, risk groups like the elderly not only had a much harder time voting but also doing service at their local polling station. Standing in line to vote was dangerous as well as ridiculous (as seen on the sign held at the Primary elections in Wisconsin this spring). People would have to choose between exercising their right to vote and protecting their personal health.
Others didn't care, either because they feel that the new incumbent won't affect their life or because they feel powerless within the voting system. Education can counteract the first reason. As well as in Germany, many people in the USA don't know their parties' policies and future plans. By funding more political education, perhaps more people would see how the respective new presidency would affect their life.
The latter reason can be traced back to the two party system, the electoral college and the swing states. The abolishment of the electoral college, would not only take away power from the swing states but also boost the engagement in the political process.
The ongoing demand for racial and social justice prompted many Americans to vote for the future of their own lives and for marginalised groups if they themselves are in a position of privilege that allows them to not bother about the outcome.

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66.9% of the people eligible to vote this year have voted and I think that it is a big accomplishment. During times of distress with the pandemic and police brutality, people feel the necessity to vote for a president to solve these problems more than ever before. The pandemic has revealed the severity of the problems within the United States including the unaffordable healthcare system, systemic racism, climate change, unemployment, and a politically divided country. However, despite the new record of voter turnout, there are still 33.1% of the population who did not vote. I believe that there are many possible reasons for why they vote including the belief that their votes won’t count, scheduling conflicts, they think that they are not informed to vote, or that they just don’t care about politics. I have some relatives who couldn’t vote because they speak very little english and don't know how to register to vote. Some things that would get people to get involved can be making the voting process more accessible to people who have work that day and educating the public on how the election impacts them and how they can vote. People disregard the election because they don't know how it can affect them, so informing the potential voters about the policies that the presidential candidates could impose in simpler terms might help them better understand why it is important to vote. I believe that the increase in voter turnouts also have to do with the younger generations who are more informed about politics in school and they became a part of the 66.9% voter turnout once they are eligible to vote.

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Samuel Ringrose, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

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Samuel Ringrose, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

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I believe that a significant percentage of the population doesn't vote because they think that the results of the election may not affect them. While this may be true for that person specifically, it is still not a valid excuse to not vote. While voting can significantly oneself, it can and does affect massive numbers of people. For many people, the results of an election can completely change their lives, for better or worse, and people who don't vote should recognize that they are not only impacting their own lives but also the lives of others through voting. I used to believe that a lot of people didn't vote because the process was too difficult, but with mail in voting, I now think that it is because people simply don't care. I think that in order to get more people to vote, we have to remind them of the power that their vote has, especially in states that don't always favor a certain political party. In terms of getting people to run for office and be actively engaged in politics, I think we have to invest more time and effort into educating people in school about politics, both in the US and the world, work and how to get involved if you want to. For many people, being engaged in such a way seems quite daunting, so making it more understandable for a large amount of the population would be very helpful.

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Maximilian D, Germany, Pfaffenhofen, Bavaria

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Maximilian D, Germany, Pfaffenhofen, Bavaria

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Personally I think one of the major problems that America has with voter participation is the Two Party System. It simply is impossible for two parties to fully cover all the interests of a diverse nation such as the United States. Many voters might just not feel attracted to any of the two parties and instead just choose to not vote all. The only reason I think this election had such a high participation is because it was such a controversial one. In comparison by looking at the turnouts here in Germany (in the picture) you can see that it would be an odditiy if it was below 70%. So personally the only way I can see how to raise turnouts is by reforming the entire US Party and Voting system. But I don't believe anyone in the US government is willing to establish a Multi-Party System and thus breaking the Democrat-Republican hold on the US.

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Politics is a complex topic.
I think that we lose a lot of eligible voters here because of relocation. Most people move to a different city for better jobs; during elections they need to be in their hometown to vote but since they aren't there, they can't vote.
The voter's lists aren't up to date which also causes us a lot of votes.
Old people find it difficult to go vote because of probable lack of facilities or because of the long distance between their homes and a nearby booth, which brings me to my next point: voting booths. There aren't enough voting booths. If the count of these booths were to go up, people would find it easier to go vote because of the reduced distance. Regulating the number of queues would help as well. Increasing the number of booths in remote, rural areas would up the vote count by a lot.
The most important thing when it comes to voting is the importance as well as awareness. Print media, News media, Free to Air news channels, and good local orators could provide that awareness which will automatically lead to an increased importance about the procedure. Voting via internet is not allowed in India. Enablement of SECURED online voting system by Aadhar would be beneficial. Since the Aadhar ID is unique in itself, it could pose as the Voter's ID. Such a list would be authentic as it does not contain fake IDs and would ultimately curtail any fake voters.
The problem is that people aren't aware of their own rights. There lacks an importance about voting in my country. If government drives don't reach to them, they're expected to raise their voice but it doesn't happen because the people aren't aware. As far as participating in election campaigns goes, I think knowing their rights better will help the people to actually engage in politics.

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Obviously , I think that there is many reasons cause that 33% of American people didn’t vote in this election:

First is because a big part of American society are not original American (born and live in another country and then came to America as an international migrant)

So this part of people don't feel that they are belonging to this country so they want to fit on society without making noise about political subjects.

Second that people are scared to make a wrong choice that will make them feel bad about it, so they prefer to watch without any move.

Third part is those who feel that they are nothing comparing with others and they say in their selves that they are not eligible to choose the future of their country.

Fourth the part that doesn’t care about all of these subjects because they don't feel that effort if the president changed or not.

Fifth part is the people who saw the way that the two presidential candidates are talking together, and this fire that is grounding on the American society between democratic and republican parties so the didn’t want this fire to grow, and this fire came because of the bad communication and the low level of respect between these parties.

After all, that is my opinion on the American election.

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I am proud of the 66.9% of voters, but it is understandable that 33% would not vote. A big part of people not voting is because they think their vote does not count. With the existance of electoral college and swing states, in a way, that is king of true. If you live in a red state but your vote is blue, and it is a swing state, it might seem helpless sometimes. A possible solution to this could be ranked choice voting, which could help people feel as if at least a part of their vote counts. Also, the electoral college could be eliminated. I will forever emphazise that the electoral college was created because the government thought that the citizens were not educated enough to make such big decisions that would change the country's fate. In order to change that, we can invest in education. We could also try and help people engage in politics at least a little bit, such as having one time a week in a class where we do current events. Honestly, it can be difficult to try and bring people into the world of being a politician, as it is believed that they are corrupt. In conclusion, ranked choice voting and either the fixing of the electoral college, or the complete abolishment.

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66.9% of eligible voters not voting is quite surprising because of the new option of mail-in ballots. Still, this is higher than normal which is positive. Many people may not have voted because they were too sick with COVID in isolation to do either option. Others were probably lost and confused, because they did not like either candidate, and knew too little about other parties. Voting for other parties would have been useless anyways, as they probably knew already. To care about voting, people really need to use empathy and try to imagine themselves as having a different gender, skin color, or sexuality. Their rights may not be in danger if either candidate is elected, but their friends' and family's rights may be. Obviously, the first and foremost reason for voting is exercising your own right to vote. If that is not enough, then hopefully the idea of voting for those who are silenced and oppressed may raise voting percentages.

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I was kind of surprised when I saw that 66.9% of the voting population voted because that’s all people have talked about the past few months. For some reason I thought the number would be a lot higher but then I learned that 66.9% has been the highest percentage for a very long time. There are many different reasons people don’t vote. First of all people might not vote because they feel they aren’t making a difference and it doesn’t matter. Especially in America, with the electoral college many people feel it doesn’t even matter if they vote. For example if someone lived in a blue state and wanted to vote red, they would maybe feel they shouldn’t even vote because it wouldn’t matter in the long run. Another reason is that people think it doesn’t affect them. Some people may feel that both candidates’ policies and opinions don’t affect them so they don’t feel they have to vote for either. One reason for those people to start voting is to show them the people this election does affect and show them what this election will cost them. Maybe that will change their minds about not voting. Another way to get people out and vote is to modify or abolish the electoral college, that I bet will help people make them feel like their vote counts. Also another reason some people don’t vote is because the lines are too long and they don’t want to wait. Like Azalea said, this is voter suppression. We need to find ways where people don’t have to wait in line for up to 4 hours. We could try and make more voting booths or places to vote. I heard a story on the news about a woman who had to find a ride for a 5 hour drive to vote and they made it feel like it was this heartwarming story, that this woman would do all that to vote but that is voter suppression. Another thing that Azalea said that is so true is that we should make Election Day a holiday and a day off of work so people can have enough time to wait in line and vote.

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I think non-voters don’t vote because they think a) they are not represented by any candidate on the ballot, b) their vote wouldn’t make a difference, and/or c) the results wouldn’t have any impact anyway. To make people care enough to vote, I think they need to be educated about the history of voting. In most countries, the right to vote has been severely limited at some point in time, especially by gender and race. For me, voting will be a way to honor all the people who came before me whose struggle resulted in my right to vote. But to make people think their vote counts, I think politicians need to take a good look at whether they listen to and fight for the communities they represent. And to get people to engage actively in politics, there needs to be a push to make people realize that, even if they feel that politics don’t affect them (often because they are in a position of privilege), they absolutely affect their neighbors and other members of their community. In addition, I do think that voter suppression is an issue that reduced the number of votes this year. I would like to see the US’s election day be made a holiday or a weekend, and for there to be a national standard of how far apart polling places can be.

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I am really proud that as many as 66.9% of population voted in this election. But on the other hand - it is still very low percentage. If the rest of the population voted, the result of the election could be completely different. But for me, a really good thing is that young people are involved in politics - even more than the elderly! We know that we will be deciding about the fate of our countries someday. We CAN change the world and I think we will do it someday. I mean that nowadays teenagers see a lot of world troubles differently than older people - for example the climate change. I think a lot of people are a bit afraid of politics. It is too complicated for them and they are just too lazy to get to know more about the election. I don't know how it looks in the USA, but in my country the public television that everybody watches convinces people to vote for one chosen political party. It would be great if the media was objective. In my opinion it is very important that famous people encourage the society to vote. Fortunately, we have democracy so we definitely sholud use it properly. It is our oblogation to be involved in politics of our country and vote in election.

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Nowadays politics is a sensitive topic , so most of citizens ignore it on purpose or not interested at all . Maybe that's because politics seems complicated.
the first way to make people more interested in those events , starts with telling them that every voice can make a change , your choice can make your community better ;  we need to have knowledge about our rights , our potential so that we choose the right people to present us , like mayors, governors.....
In my opinion , I noticed that people fully informed about history (historians , sociologists) , can sometimes foresee the results or coming events  , as the quote says : history repeats itself , so first of all we need to know our country's history ,and choosing the best people to lead us is a way to prevent some disasters like poverty , war , financial crisis and many more struggles .

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The fact that having only 66.9% of our population vote is a victory, is alarming. There was a nation-wide effort to encourage people to vote. It was on billboards, new stations, and plastered on windows. But still, it wasn't enough somehow. It provokes the question, what will it take to get everyone to vote? I think the fact that we had the highest voter turnout since 1900 is remarkable and worthy of applause. However, I think that it is important to continue to question why that 33.1% of eligible voters didn't make it to the polls this year.
There is the possibility that some who couldn't vote were unable due to illness (Covid, etc.), or maybe they were too busy working or taking care of relatives.
However, I have a feeling that was not a huge percentage of those who didn't vote. I think that a lot of people didn't vote simply because they felt like their voice didn't matter, or they didn't care enough to put in the effort.  I also think every year there are people who don't like any of the candidates, so they simply don't pick.
I think making people care about voting begins on a personal level. People need to be able to relate to at least one of the candidates and need to feel like their voice matters. I think the efforts we've seen to get people to vote are working, but we need to make sure these messages are reaching everyone from rural towns to metropolises.
As humans we are selfish, we have to see a benefit for ourselves in every decision we make. This is why many don't vote - if it doesn't affect them, they can't be bothered. I think we can get more people to vote, and hopefully, we see numbers rise over the next few decades, but I don't think there will ever be a time where 100% of Americans vote.

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Benigne Marie I, Rwanda, Kigali city, Kicukiro, Kigarama.

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Benigne Marie I, Rwanda, Kigali city, Kicukiro, Kigarama.

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Thanks to 66.1% voters who tried to vote as well in this year and now is the biggest number from 1900 so I hope the following years will be more than 66.1% for the percentage is increasing so will not be decreased in coming elections. By those 33.9% maybe were because of the COVID-19 pandemic the issue or they’re not interested in politics or don’t like to vote, or they had some problems or issues in their way of elections, so I would like to ask those who’re in positions and those who lead the votes in election to approach citizens and ask them why they didn’t vote so that they’ll will be able face and try solve problems happened next time, for the problem of today’s politicians don’t want to approach and go near by their citizens that why even our whole world is facing much difficulties in their daily life, especially here in Africa the most.

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When living in a democratic country, it is crucial to be aware of the relevance of every single vote from the eligible voters. Nevertheless, evidence clearly shows an increasing percentage of absenteeism, which reached significant, but yet long separated numbers, in the elections held this very year in the USA and Bolivia, for example. Although the risk it implies to vote in the middle of the pandemic may be an explanation to this absenteeism phenomenon, I think there are deeper reasons that may explain it without considering the joint the Covid-19 put us all into. Considering the scenarios in both countries mentioned above it can be inferred that one probable cause to the phenomenon of absenteeism is the liberality degree in the specific country the election is held in, a clear example is: In the USA, it is not absolutely mandatory to vote, so its population are not being exposed to such a pressure to interfere with their schedules and go voting; on the other hand, here in Bolivia each election is held on a specific date in which every single eligible voter is compelled to go to their respective electoral precinct and vote to receive their personal suffrage card without which the person cannot carry out bank operations or other legal processes, that is one important reason to explain the massive difference between the absenteeism percentages in these two substantially different nations, Bolivian constitution is designed to avoid the situation occurring in the USA.  Economically, the USA political parties deal subjects such as migration, public health and external politics since the whole country has a stable economic system unlikely to change; while here in Bolivia, the economic system is prone to change on each election. Another plausible explanation also related to economic affairs can find its source in each countries own social classes, despite it may be a delicate subject, I think the social class to which a person belongs has a relevant impact when it comes to taking the decision of whether to vote or not, dividing Bolivian society into three social strata (high, mid/working and low class), the 3 possible scenarios are these: high class people may not feel as committed to the country´s situation since their position may make them think changes in the government  that may affect the rest of the population, won´t have such an impact on them, so this thinking would prevent them from voting despite its obligatoriness (this postulate may not be as strong since Bolivia has had a leftist government since the early 2000´s and may be stronger in the context of the USA), next there is the mid/working class, that encompasses a wide range of the population who are aware that political changes provoked by the change in the government can jeopardize their way of live and stability, nevertheless, this awareness leads them to realize that the corrupt system is ineffective, inefficient, antidemocratic and does not represent them in the way they want to be represented when they go voting, so the reason they don´t vote is that the lack of trust in the system; and lastly there is the low class, which in Bolivia has had a tremendous impact in the politics, since it is a sector that encompasses poorly educated people (which in Bolivia is a lot), they are easily manipulated with populist strategies which makes them nothing but an asset to governments like the one overthrown by the population last year due to an electoral fraud planned to keep an almost dictatorial corrupt regime. I am totally conscious that this is a much wider and complex subject to answer the prompt, I may even be wrong in certain aspects, but I think this is a subject worthy of debate.

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This year has been the most troubling year for me by far. I've never had such a large range of emotions in such a short amount of time. Following the election, I'm honestly surprised that 66.9% of the US population did vote because I did not expect the number to be this high or to have so many people use their voice to speak out. As for the other 33.9%, I think that they were either no ale to vote/or English was not their first language/ or they just did not want to vote at all. For example, my parents wanted to vote but since English isn't their first language, they did not want to even bother with the whole voting process. I believe that in order to get people to vote, people have to want to read more about a certain topic and to read both sides of the argument, because I feel like if you vote and you only read one side, it would be a very biased decision. I also think that people who choose to run for office or to further engage themselves into politics have a dream to change the world. I would love to wake up one day and have world peace, but that cannot happen without diplomats and politicians working hard and creating a better society for all.

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We have had a higher voter turnout this year than we have other years because the option of mail-in voting was much more convenient than it has been in other years. the other 33% didn't vote likely because of the coronavirus and problems surrounding racism. Other people didn't vote because they don't care about it or don't agree with any of the candidates. Honestly I have no idea because this election was all about our future and it evolved around the biggest problems we've had as a country in recent times. If people didn't feel the need to vote this time, then I have no idea what will make them.