During the year of 1870, on the 3rd day in the month of February, the 15th amendment was ratified. The 15th amendment prohibits the denial of the right to vote based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude. Basically, giving all United States citizens the equal right to vote. Thousands of brave men and women have made the ultimate sacrifice to defend the United States constitution that holds our rights. Not to mention all the hard work from several people it took to pass congress. So why not make voting mandatory? Mandatory voting will benefit the United States citizens by allowing everyone to exercise their rights, therefore, entitling us to have a say in the electoral process, possibly making a change to improve our country. …show more content…
In 2012, only 58% of the population voted in the primary elections. That is a very low number compared to all the other countries. According to William A. Galston’s article, “Telling Americans to Vote, or Else,” he states, “Jury duty is mandatory; why not voting.” I agree with his statement. Pursuant to the online business dictionary, jury duty is “one of the highest duties of citizenship.” In jury duty, you are making a very important decision. You’re making the decision to prove if someone is innocent or guilty. The idea of jury duty correlates with the aspect of voting. You’re a part of the decision process to pick the next leader of our country. As well as jury duty, voting should be added to one of the highest duties of U.S …show more content…
It’s not an everyday thing where you need to leave your house and go vote. In primary election of 2016, I voted. When I stepped into the poll, I felt like I was making a very important decision. At the same time, I felt like how most of us feel when we vote; a little fish in the ocean. We may not notice it but every vote counts. It has been proven that when a majority of the population votes during an election, there is a higher chance of having a successful democracy. That’s how I feel. The more votes, the
Since the turn of the twenty first century, in Canada voter turnout has made a significant and consecutive decline. In the last five federal elections on average only sixty-one per cent of eligible voters voted. If each eligible citizen voted in an election the government would be on par with the primary interests of the people. The easiest way to achieve this objective is by implementing a compulsory voting system. Mandatory voting systems are appealing because all citizens are affected by decisions made by the government, so it makes sense to have all those affected apart of the election process. As a result, the voting results would be more representative of the country and that would lead to an increase of stability and legitimacy. It would also be beneficial to Canadians because would cause political parties to address and focus on the needs of every socio-economic level. However, one of biggest problems that accompanies mandatory voting laws is that the choice to exercise the right to vote is taken away. Another primary concern about compulsory voting is that a large number of uninterested and uninformed voters are brought to the polls. Conversely, uninformed voters will become familiar with and learn the polling procedures and electoral system over time and uninterested voters are not forced to mark a name on the ballot. Compulsory voting laws would only make registration and attendance at the polls mandatory, not voting itself. Therefore the freedom to exercise the right to vote or not is still intact. A greater emphasis on alternate voting practices may be established such as electronic or online voting. Positive changes would not only be evident in the policies of political parties but also in the voting procedure. Th...
A compulsory voting system similar to the one used in Australia is not a system Canada should implement. Compulsory voting in the context of a democratic society can be a misleading term (Lever, 2010). Canada practices the secret ballot process in voting, and so it is impossible to verify if someone has cast a legally valid ballot. If countries have a singular goal of simply increasing voter turnout, compulsory voting could remedy this problem and it should be more accurately defined as being compulsory voter turnout (Lever, 2010). The belief that compulsory voting inherently improves democracy is misleading (Lever, 2010). Canada should not force its citizen’s to vote because other then increasing voter turnout, compulsory voting would infringe on the right of the voter to not vote, it would not lead to a more informed or engaged population, the legitimacy of government would suffer, and the resources required to implement and maintain the compulsory voting system would be extremely costly to the federal government.
Recently, only 60% of registered voters have actually voted in presidential elections. This brings up the question: should Americans be required to vote? This question receives very mixed answers. Many Americans believe that they should have the choice and the freedom to vote or not; many Americans also believe that mandatory, or required, voting is simply a civic duty. Currently, American citizens are not required to vote. Citizens seem to like this system, but because voting is not mandatory, the amount of citizens that vote in elections is rather low. Americans should not be required to vote because it forces people to vote that are uninterested, makes citizens unhappy, and damages other people’s votes.
Serving on a jury is a civic duty and an American tradition. However, some people view jury duty as a chore or as an event that negatively interrupts their lives. Some independent studies have shown that even jury duty has a devastating effect on married life. Due to this and other extraneous situations, there are only a few people who actually want to serve on a jury. This may lead to efforts by potential jurors to, in some way get out of their duty in a jury. What we know of as the current jury duty system should be changed so citizens are not forced to serve in this capacity and can still be regarded as a responsible civilian. As per the status quo, a trial jury is a constitutional right, a jury of ones peers or equals. However, ordinary people with little or no formal knowledge of the law should not be allowed to make a decision that would change a person's life.
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
Without mandatory voting, some people chose not to vote because they do not care, or are uninformed. Forcing these people to vote could lead to random choices when voters do not take responsibility to study the candidate's position on specific topics. "It may increase the number of informal votes, ballot papers which are not marked according to the rules for voting," _ Matt Rosenberg_. Compulsory voting may lead many people to not truly vote, but to put their name on a ballot and turn it in. While this is possible, a greater number of potentially interested people would also vote. If people are required to vote, the country will obtain every eligible voters’ opinions. Some of the citizens may not care who is elected, but they still can have a say if they want to. Without mandatory voting, the people who do not want to vote, do not and went about with their life. "Because a majority of the voters are turning out to cast ballots, the formation of the government can be a more accurate reflection of what the population of any nation wants," _Asia-Pacific Economics_. In a government with two different parties, the majority of the citizens decide how they want the government to be formed till the next election.
Jury duty is a civic duty meaning that it is required to be completed by a selected individual. Jury duty is used to ensure that justice is done throughout each city. Although justice is important to be served, those that are chosen to serve jury duty are forced to miss work and many local jobs do not provide pay for this missing day or days. Failure to appear for jury duty without a legit excuse will result in licit punishment. Obeying the law is also a civic duty which is pretty much common sense because the better our society follow the rules, the more civilized and productive our communities could be.
A chance of not being paid or being a college student are not the only reasons as to why someone might be unable to go to jury duty, though, they could be a parent with a child they can’t be away from for very long, or maybe they have a psychological reason for not being able to attend. Sometimes people don’t have a reason as to why they can’t go other than they don’t want to. That reason alone is one that is very difficult to not understand on some level, jury duty can be stressful, inconvenient and the fact that there is no way of knowing exactly how long the case might go on until it’s over are all reasons that could cause one’s stomach to fill with dread when they receive their
In the last episodes of the podcast, we are introduced to various key statements that question the judicial system. In regards to combining a conclusion to make out of the facts that have been uncovered, we can conclude that the criminal justice system isn't fair to everyone. In the article “What ‘Serial’ Really Taught us”, it emphasizes on the terrible flaws in our justice system. It defines an individual who deigns to be a juror, and the one’s that try to wiggle out of jury duty. Many jurors are quick to hand down a guilty verdict if they have a hunch of a bad character on the defendant. The justice system isn’t fair to everyone, and it feels like it’s a game of Russian Roulette. Why is it that some individuals feel that the defendant is guilty, because they are standing in front of a court room? Why don’t we do a serious evaluation on a juror’s mental state about the alleged crime committed? When we go to jury duty, we are eliminated based on our own personal emotions towards a crime. Many individuals that have been jurors on high profile cases have admitted to conclude on a
Many people don’t participate in public elections for many reasons. They may not think their opinions matter, or think it’s not worth their time. However recently, only about half of US citizens have voted in the presidential elections every year. People should vote in public elections to help clarify your rights and beliefs, to make positive change around the world, and to use the right that many others don’t have. Most adult citizens know basic facts about politics and economics but don’t have a deep understanding of it such as how certain policies can affect everyone.
Should everyone be forced to vote ? This topic is a big discussion in today's world. Everyone should know how this will effect them if they vote yes on mandatory voting. Some people do not like the current president and are wondering if everyone is voting for the people they actually want in office. The people who are voting want it to be a fair vote because not everyone votes they have the choice on who they want to be their president.
Our constitution gives us the freedom of speech. We have the right to voice our opinions but also have the right to remain silent. Making voting a requirement goes against this democratic freedom. The origins of voting from Rome, Greece, and Athens all were meant to give their people a voice. They wanted to give citizens a chance to give input and add diverse opinions to every decision. Forcing voting does not coincide with this original idea that was the reason we even have voting.
Every vote counts literally every vote counts. Another reason people do not vote, they have small children at home, they are too busy working and cannot take a day off. Many men and women have laid their life on the line and fought and died for us to vote today.
A rising topic of argument among the United States is whether military service should be mandatory or remain completely voluntary. This is a topic that has been discussed among the people for a very long time. Currently, it is not mandatory for a United States citizen to serve any time in the military. Similar to any other topic of debate, there are many people who disagree, and there are people who agree that military service should not be mandatory. Fifty-two percent of people believe that military service should be mandatory, leaving forty-eight percent saying that it is a choice, not a premade decision. (Debate.org) Both arguments have valid points, but there are a few points that rise above others. Do we want unproven citizens weighing the strongest and most feared military down?
The action of voting is such important role in how our country is going to be developed, especially effects on the economy, foreign relationships, society, etc. People are becoming much involved in politics, which is extraordinary because it means that the people are understanding how important their vote is and how it brings change to the issues that truly bother them. Many citizens don’t vote because they are either lazy or too busy, they either have jobs, classes, families, or other responsibilities take care of, but voting is a responsibility that should be attended. Voting could be the thing to prevent awful political leader’s to be put in office who are not focusing on what’s truly important, which is the people, which means that