The state’s Commissioner of Elections is predicting record voting in today’s election, but others say the “turn-off” factor will dampen turnout. The deluge of negative campaign advertising on radio and television has been described by some as “voter suppression.” University of Northern Iowa communication studies professor Christopher Martin says politicians are using their First Amendment free speech rights to be “complete jerks.”Martin says most political ads aren’t designed to get people to go out and vote “for” a candidate, and with 60 percent of voting-age Americans staying away from the polls, those negative ads are “turning off” voters according to Martin. He says it’s not about motivating more people to go to the polls, it’s about manipulating the people who always vote. Martin says ads for products usually aim to get consumers to like the product.Martin says people are “so disgusted by the ads this year” because “you can hardly listen to commercial radio or watch television and now be assaulted by the ads” which Martin says “take such a low road.”
