While some are calling for Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders to drop out of the race, the Vermont Sen. says the reason he is losing elections is due to low voter turnout among poor people.
Sanders’ campaign appeals to many people living at or below the poverty line because he focuses on policies such as raising the minimum wage, advocating for free college tuition, and reducing the income inequality gap.
Despite these appeals to the poor, Sanders said the challenge is to get them to get out and vote.
“We have one – as you know – one of the lowest voter turnouts of any major country on Earth. We have done a good job bringing young people in. I think we have done – had some success with lower income people. But in America today – the last election in 2014, 80 percent of poor people did not vote,” Sanders said in a “Meet the Press” interview on Sunday.
“I mean, that’s just a fact,” he added. “That’s a sad reality of American society. And that’s what we have to transform.
Although Sanders said 80 percent of poor people did not vote in 2014, a Politifact examination into the claim found that that was an overestimation of 10 to 15 percentage points, according to FoxNews.com.
Polls show that Clinton won Democratic voters with household incomes below $50,000 by a margin of 55-44, which Sanders said was due to voter apathy.
“So many people have given up on the political process, including a whole lot of low-income people where the voting rates are low,” Sanders said. “Young people who are not voting in large numbers. Our job is to bring people into the political process, to create a government that represents all of us, not just the one percent.”
Publication date: April 25, 2016
