What Are The Pros And Cons Of Compulsory Voting

compulsory voting, is it worth it?

Would the U.S. be a better country if more people voted? Just 53% of the population voted in 2012, and this is a big deal because usually the people who vote white, over 65, college-educated, or make at least $50,000, which influence the election because those people usually have the same mentality. With that being said, wouldn’t it be better if there were more controversial votes? Just like any other debate, there are pros and cons on this issue.

Since usually older white rich people tend to vote, candidate tries to relate to them the most, which means that issues that affect our generation, like college debt, wouldn’t be as important as issues that affect the wealthy, like increasing taxes on the wealthy.

The reason it wouldn’t be a good idea if everyone voted is that the way teenagers are being taught in high school and are acting nowadays it doesn’t seem legitimate to make them vote on something that would affect the whole country. Fresh out of high school 18 year olds don’t know anything about voting or who to vote for, because they are usually not taught those things in high school, so they usually end up voting for whoever their parents are voting for and that just ruin the cause. This generation make a lot of irrational decisions, like drinking and driving, and like dropping out of college just because it is too hard, they don’t think about others, they only think about having a good time. So by getting them to vote without thinking would probably end up harming the country not help it. One of the main arguments on why compulsory voting is bad, is that it leads to a greater number of uninformed voters, those who choose not to vote, are usually less educated than those who vote. As stated in fairvote.org (2) “Misleading uninformed voters. It is often asserted that uninformed voters are more susceptible to the influence of money and spending on television ads. A short advertisement is likely to have a greater influence on an uninformed voter than one who already has strong views. This encourages the use of sensational and misleading advertising and may have a negative effect on campaigning techniques… Since uninformed voters are more easily persuaded, some politicians may choose to focus on marginal voters and ignore their main base of support. Even if compulsory voting leads to less polarization, it may not result in better policy outcomes because complicated and nuanced