Electoral campaigns usually provide candidates with an opportunity to outline their manifestos to the electorate. Despite the fact that the United States is attributed as one of the most democratic nation in the world, there have been concerns regarding voter suppression that was facilitated by Trump’s campaigning team. This paper, therefore, focuses mainly on voter suppression through the use of media and the voter identification cards (I.D.) laws and how it played out in the Trump elections.
Evidence from studies conducted reveals the implication caused by false advertising that notably perpetuated voter suppression with politician reaching out to such group, thus, limiting them from participating in elections (Fridkin, Kenney, & Wintersieck, 2015). In a study conducted by Brooks (2010), findings emerged how candidates compete with others where some resort to negative advertising through the use of the media to influence the voter population voting cycle. Although there are discrepancies reported, there is an outcry where a section of voters defied going to the polls after consuming information from such negative political adverts. Candidates aware of this impact persist their quest by channeling negativity via the media with the principles of the Federal Communications Act failing to avert the spread of the adversity caused in the process.
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In addition to the negative advertising that is responsible for polarizing voters, the voter I.D. laws spearheaded in certain states is another component that is notable for voter suppressing. The Trump’s campaigning team continue to receive the backlash for their outward support of voter I.D., which lead to voter suppression in certain states with large populations of Latinos and Hispanics, and Blacks failing to vote in the 2016 general election. Similarly, findings from a study conducted by Allcott and Gentzkow (2017) reported the prevalence fake news that was propagated by the Trump’s campaign team with over 115 pro-Trump fake stories propagated over the social media. Based on the evidence that an overwhelming 62% of the Americans access news via social media networks as reported in the study, the likelihood of voter suppression during the Trump campaigns was evidently high.
References
Allcott, H., & Gentzkow, M. (2017). Social media and fake news in the 2016 election. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 31 (2), 211-36.
Brooks, D. J. (2010). A negativity gap? Voter gender, attack politics, and participation in American elections. Politics & Gender, 6 (3), 319-341.
Fridkin, K., Kenney, P. J., & Wintersieck, A. (2015). Liar, liar, pants on fire: How fact-checking influences citizens’ reactions to negative advertising. Political Communication, 32 (1), 127-151. doi: 10.1080/10584609.2014.914613.
