Pros And Cons Of Mandatory Voting In The United States

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John Adams once said "You will never know how much it cost the present generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make good use of it." For many generations, our ancestors have fought for the right to vote. It started with the Civil Rights Act in 1964 which made it mandatory that white schools integrate black children into their institutions. The outcome of the 1964 election was a landslide, favoring the democrats, which broached the issue of civil rights legislation. In 1964 “only 7% of eligible black citizens in Mississippi were registered; in Alabama the figure was 20% (Kernell, et. al 2014, 162). The low voter turnout rate was because people of color were required to take a literacy test. This all changed when President Johnson …show more content…

The most critiqued argument is that mandating voting is just un-American. The con side argues that forcing people to vote violates our freedom of speech. But they don’t feel that the requirement to pay taxes and serve as a jure are unjust. This seems contradictory. The second argument is that requiring all citizens to vote would result in many uninformed and carelessly voters. They continue this argument by stating many people would cast “donkey votes” which are votes for a random candidate because they are required to vote by law. There are many arguments for and against compulsory voting but it comes down to what makes something …show more content…

2014. “Voting within Australia – Frequently Asked Questions.”Australian Electoral Commission, August 22. http://www.aec.gov.au/FAQs/Voting_Australia.htm (March 2015). Carroll, Doherty. 2014. "7 things to know about polarization in America." Pew Research Center, June 12. http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/06/12/7-things-to-know-about-polarization-in-america/ (March, 2015). Katie, Beck. 2013. "Australia election: Why is voting compulsory?" BBC News, August 26. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-23810381 (March, 2015). Kernell, Samuel, Jacobson, Gary C., Kousser, Thad, & Vavreck, Lynn. 2014. The Logic of American Politics 6th ed. Los Angeles: CQ Press Jessica, Rettig. 2010. “Galston: Mandatory Voting Would Loosen Partisan Gridlock.” US News, July 8 http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2010/07/08/galston-mandatory-voting-would-loosen-partisan-gridlock (March 8). US Census Bureau. 2015. “US and World Population Clock.” US Census Bureau, March 13. http://www.census.gov/popclock/ (March, 2015). "Voter Apathy". Flow Psychology, March 2014 . http://flowpsychology.com/voter-apathy-definition/ (March,

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