full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Amber McReynolds: An election system that puts voters (not politicians) first

Unscramble the Blue Letters

Now, the 2016 election was the most highly watched, most aitcietnapd election in US history. And yet, only 60 percent of eligible Americans actually vteod. Over 100 million people did not vote in 2016. And when they were surveyed as to why, over 40 percent indicated it was due to a barrier: missing a dladinee, couldn't get off work, couldn't wait in line for hrous. If "did not vote" was on the ballot in 2016, "did not vote" would have won in a landslide. What we end up with is a system where a minority of eligible Americans are choosing the politicians that make decisions for all of us collectively. Trust in the US government and paniiitclos is at an all-time low, and the baollt box isn't helping. If we can't even cast a vote easily, why would we ever trust the process or tsrut politicians? We must put vortes first. I'll say that again. We must put voters first in election policies and designing a system that serves them.

Open Cloze

Now, the 2016 election was the most highly watched, most ___________ election in US history. And yet, only 60 percent of eligible Americans actually _____. Over 100 million people did not vote in 2016. And when they were surveyed as to why, over 40 percent indicated it was due to a barrier: missing a ________, couldn't get off work, couldn't wait in line for _____. If "did not vote" was on the ballot in 2016, "did not vote" would have won in a landslide. What we end up with is a system where a minority of eligible Americans are choosing the politicians that make decisions for all of us collectively. Trust in the US government and ___________ is at an all-time low, and the ______ box isn't helping. If we can't even cast a vote easily, why would we ever trust the process or _____ politicians? We must put ______ first. I'll say that again. We must put voters first in election policies and designing a system that serves them.

Solution

  1. trust
  2. voters
  3. hours
  4. ballot
  5. politicians
  6. voted
  7. deadline
  8. anticipated

Original Text

Now, the 2016 election was the most highly watched, most anticipated election in US history. And yet, only 60 percent of eligible Americans actually voted. Over 100 million people did not vote in 2016. And when they were surveyed as to why, over 40 percent indicated it was due to a barrier: missing a deadline, couldn't get off work, couldn't wait in line for hours. If "did not vote" was on the ballot in 2016, "did not vote" would have won in a landslide. What we end up with is a system where a minority of eligible Americans are choosing the politicians that make decisions for all of us collectively. Trust in the US government and politicians is at an all-time low, and the ballot box isn't helping. If we can't even cast a vote easily, why would we ever trust the process or trust politicians? We must put voters first. I'll say that again. We must put voters first in election policies and designing a system that serves them.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations

ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
voting process 5
election officials 3
put voters 3
overly restrictive 2
voting experience 2
eligible americans 2
ballot issues 2
future voters 2

Important Words

  1. americans
  2. anticipated
  3. ballot
  4. box
  5. cast
  6. choosing
  7. collectively
  8. deadline
  9. decisions
  10. designing
  11. due
  12. easily
  13. election
  14. eligible
  15. government
  16. helping
  17. highly
  18. history
  19. hours
  20. landslide
  21. line
  22. million
  23. minority
  24. missing
  25. people
  26. percent
  27. policies
  28. politicians
  29. process
  30. put
  31. serves
  32. surveyed
  33. system
  34. trust
  35. vote
  36. voted
  37. voters
  38. wait
  39. watched
  40. won
  41. work