1979 Jimmy Carter - Low Voter Turnout in 1978 Midterm Elections

In the 1978 midterm elections voter turnout nationwide was only 38%.  By today's standards that does not seem all that bad, but at the time, it was the lowest turnout since the years during the WWII years.  In the South, the numbers were even worse, where the average voter turnout was just 30%.  In January of 1979, Jimmy Carter shared his concerns with Congress during his State of the Union Address:  "None of us can be satisfied when two-thirds of the American citizens chose not to vote".   In fact, in Jimmy Carter's own home state, voter turnout was only 29%. In that same year, Democrats lost 15 seats in the House of Representatives, 3 seats in the Senate and six governors.  One of the very few Democratic pick-ups was Governor Bill Clinton in Arkansas.  It was a moderate victory for Republicans, but one that moved Congress to the right and forced Carter to the middle, setting the stage for a landslide defeat to Ronald Reagan in 1980. 

Rather than look inward or to any of his policies, President Carter blamed it on the influence of private lobbying groups and what he called the "unbelievable flood" of private campaign money.  It had been only four years since several Federal Election Campaign Act Amendments of 1974 (FECA) were passed to put limits on contributions of both federal candidates and political parties. The amendments also created the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to administer and enforce the new laws. The act limited individual contributions to candidates for federal office to $1000, and $5,000 on contributions from Political Action Committees (PACs).  The act also put limits on the expenditures by outside groups and individuals such as unions or PACs, but this was struck down in 1976 when the Supreme court ruled in Buckley v. Valeo.  The Court upheld the contribution limits, but by striking down the limits on expenditures of outside groups, critics claimed that it allowed too much "soft money" to help candidates without coordinating with a campaign. 

This drop in voter turnout did not come as a complete surprise to Carter, in March of 1977 he delivered a special message to Congress where he described what he saw as "a disturbing trend toward lower and lower levels of voting by our citizens."  In this special address he outlined several recommendations for reforms in our Nation's election system including removing barriers to voting, public financing and abolishing the electoral college.   

• Universal same day Voter Registration -   Carter proposed a universal voter registration allowing citizens to register on the day of the election, so long as they are qualified to vote in a state. 
• Public financing for House and Senate Members -  In 1974, Congress established a system of public financing for presidential candidates, Carter wanted this extended to House and Senate Members.
• Support for Grass-roots participation in Presidential elections -  Carter suggested that Presidential campaigns be allowed to designate one committee in each state that can raise and spend a limited amount of money to help the candidate locally.
• Direct Popular Election of the President - In 1977, President Jimmy Carter recommended that Congress adopt a constitutional amendment to abolish the Electoral College.  He was not the first nor the last to do so.   
• Political Rights of Federal Employees - Carter recommended revising the Hatch Act so that most Federal employees including postal workers and workers in Washington D.C. be allowed to run as a partisan candidate or volunteer in a partisan political campaign.

In 1979, Carter was now urging Congress to pass House bill 1 which would restore the public's faith by at least providing the public financing reforms that he proposed in 1977.  Here are the words, President Jimmy Carter spoke in his 1979 State of the Union Address:

"None of us can be satisfied when twothirds of the American citizens chose not to vote last year in a national election. Too many Americans feel powerless against the influence of private lobbying groups and the unbelievable flood of private campaign money which threatens our electoral process. 

This year, we must regain the public's faith by requiring limited financial funds from public funds for congressional election campaigns. House bill 1 provides for this public financing of campaigns. And I look forward with a great deal of anticipation to signing it at an early date."

References

Presidency.ucsb.edu. (2018). The State of the Union Address Delivered Before a Joint Session of the Congress. | The American Presidency Project. [online] Available at: https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-state-the-union-address-delivered-before-joint-session-the-congress-0 [Accessed 25 Oct. 2018].

Presidency.ucsb.edu. (2018). Election Reform Message to the Congress. | The American Presidency Project. [online] Available at: https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/election-reform-message-the-congress [Accessed 25 Oct. 2018].

www.washingtonpost.com (2018). Voter Turnout Rises, Especially in South. [online] Available at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1982/11/27/voter-turnout-rises-especially-in-south/20af1c16-ab09-442b-9aa4-70f58ef09be5/?utm_term=.b39ac1ef0e7d [Accessed 25 Oct. 2018].

www.washingtonpost.com (2018). Watergate: The Reforms. [online] Available at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/watergate/legacy.htm [Accessed 25 Oct. 2018].

Cfinst.org. (2018). CFI - Campaign Finance Law. [online] Available at: http://www.cfinst.org/law.aspx [Accessed 25 Oct. 2018].

En.wikipedia.org. (2018). Buckley v. Valeo. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckley_v._Valeo [Accessed 25 Oct. 2018].

En.wikipedia.org. (2018). United States elections, 1978. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_elections,_1978 [Accessed 25 Oct. 2018].