As an American citizen do you think the government should enforce compulsory voting? A country usually needs three things to have a successful compulsory voting system, a national voter registration database, rewards to encourage voters, and punishing non-voters. Should americans be required to vote? There are three reasons why Americans should be required to vote, first, so citizens have interests and political knowledge, second, to increase amount of younger voters and finally, requiring people to vote is the least a citizen can do. First, one reason why Americans should be required to vote is that it will educate the citizens. Evidence supporting this reason is in “Unequal Participation: Democracy’s Unresolved Dilemma, American Political Science Review” Aaron Lijphart stated that “By compelling people to vote, we are likely to arouse in them an intelligent interest and to give them a political knowledge that do not at present possess.” This evidence helps explain why Americans should be required to vote because when citizens are required to vote it gives them a political understanding that they didn't have before voting. Most citizens will research …show more content…
Evidence of this is according to the United States Election Project by George Mason University, when required to vote the percent of voters 18-29 years old increased. The more education a person has the more likely they will vote. In 2004, 56.4% of students with a high school diploma voted but in the same year 72.2% of students with some college or bachelor’s degree voted. Therefore the difference is between students with a college or bachelor's degree and a high school diploma is 15.8%. This evidence helps explain why Americans should be required to vote because if compulsory voting is applied then young voters’ percent will increase since most of young voters go to school and don't want to pay a
Should America have compulsory voting? In my opinion, compulsory voting is a good way to increase the voting turnout. People currently don't like to vote because they don't have the time, or are just too lazy. If the government gives them an incentive then they will be happy to take time off to vote. Also, a reason to fear not to vote should be installed, like an annoying fine. When only a few people vote, the voter satisfaction is low. But when everyone puts their idea in, the satisfaction rises because the actual majority will win.
Firstly, the idea of compulsory voting that involves every citizen having a civic duty, rather then a right to vote, which has been introduced in over 20 countries worldwide, a good example being Australia. In Australia, the system has been a success, producing an impressive turnout of 94% in the 2013 election, which therefore means that the Australian government will have a much higher level of legitimacy compared to the UK. However, critics of compulsory voting argue that such a system is undemocratic by itself as it does not provide a citizen with a choice on whether to vote or not, resulting in a serious debate around the issue. However, I must agree with the critics of the system, as the people voting because they have to, are likely to be less passionate and well informed about the person they have to
midterm elections is particularly low. Required voting offers one possible, if radical, solution. Like any political institution, laws on it have multiple, if disputed, consequences. The average voter is incompetent at politics. The citizens who refrain are, on average, even more incompetent. Many people don't vote because they don't care enough or know enough of the politics to get involved, and there is no convincing evidence that mandatory voting increases voter knowledge. Simply put, people who vote tend to know more about politics than those who don't. It is worth asking why we would want low information citizens voting in the first place. Just so they're "involved" even if they're trudging to the polls to avoid a fine? If we force everyone to vote, the electorate will become even more irrational and misinformed. The result will not only will the worse candidate on the ballot get a better shot at winning, but the candidates who make it on the ballot in the first place will be worse. The people who are forced to vote against their will to avoid a fine, are just going to vote for anyone just to fulfill their commitment and not be fined, is that what we want? Is this what American is coming to forcing people to go to the polls just to check a box just to avoid a
To enforce voting to be mandatory , this will prompt more Americans to pay attention to the choices for their representatives. Mandating would stimulate the demand side, motivating voters to understand and acknowledge who they are voting for. Therefore , voting is to be a responsibility than a option.
If the voting age is lowered, it is true that a higher voter turnout would be a result. Other countries such as Belgium, Germany, and Austria have a lower voting age and enjoy a higher percentage of voter turnout. Belgium ranks at 93% voter participation, while the U.S. trails behind at just 38% turnout in congressional elections. These facts seem to indicate that a lower voting age has a direct impact on voter participation. However, there is no concrete proof that a lower voting age directly impacts voter turnout. I believe the problem lies deeper than age.
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.
There is a way that is already put in use to increase voter turnout in Australia is to make voting mandatory. People in Australia are forced to vote or they will be fined, or even jailed if they do not vote repeatedly. It is very effective in term of improving voter turnout; however, there is still some argument against it. One of them being people would only vote because they have to, so they are ignorantly voting for the candidates just to be done with it. I completely agree with this idea. The voter turnout can be really high, but it would be meaningless if the people just vote to escape from the punishments. Yale Law School Professor Stephen Carter also suggested that, instead of punishing people do not vote, we should reward people who vote. It is the same with the mandatory voting. I think it will only be effective in increasing the voter turnout, but the results will not. People should vote voluntarily for the best and fair outcome. To have more people voting, I believe we should take a look at why people do not vote. We must assure people that if everybody thinks their vote does not count, then no one would vote. We should be able to change their attitude about their own votes. If people cannot vote because they are busy with work or schools, we should have a national day off on the election day. By doing so, much more people will be able to participate in voting. There should also be
Governments should require compulsory voting because a higher percentage of citizens will educate themselves when they are required to vote. All campaigns will have to focus
The most widely known reason or excuse for not voting is because voting is held on a Tuesday. Many Americans work and get caught up in the daily routine of work, school, family life, or simply forget at the end of the day. A lot of Americans argue that if voting was on the weekend they would vote. Personally, I feel this is a weak excuse and they could make time to vote. You cannot be penalized by an employer for taking time off to go vote. On the weekends, they could make excuses that they had family events, travel, chores, etc., and those reasons would keep them for going out to vote too. Another reason U.S. citizens are thought to not vote is because it is a two-step process to vote. You must register first and then vote later. In other countries you can register the day of and cast your vote immediately following. Another contributor to low voter turnout is because it is not a law to vote in the U.S. In Australia and Belgium, it is the law to vote and you can be fined for not voting. By implementing such a law in the U.S. would take away from what many people feel like is a vote; “not voting is a vote” and this would take away from their
People have many different reasons why they may or may not vote. U.S. citizens should use their vote because it is their earned right, it helps them to affect change, and it ensures that their voice is heard. Furthermore, children and other members of society who cannot vote depend on voters to make the right choices on their behalf.
American should be required to vote because 40 out of 160 have these voting systems where you are required to vote. If not there would be consequences such as a fine or maybe even jail. People would also go and vote if there wasn´t a charge involved. This would make americans go and vote today.
Voting helps our country make hard decisions, but others want no part in it. Forcing all Americans to vote is an extremely authoritarian decision to make. It stuffs ballots with inattentive voters. If the government forces us to do unnecessary activities, our buzz among foreign countries will begin to blow hot and cold. Not only will it be very undemocratic of our government to force us to vote, but uninformed voters will be flooding polls as well.
First of all, let’s explore what compulsory voting actually is. “Compulsory voting can be defined very simply as the legal obligation to attend the polls at election time and perform whatever duties are required there of electors” (Birch 2). Numerous countries impose sanctions on those who do not vote- these sanctions usually are fines, while some even require a small amount of jail time (“International IDEA”). Those worried about potentially unfair sanctions by the US Government must remember that when this country was founded in 1776 our founding fathers had legitimate, long-lasting rules for this country, so our government surely will not have trouble creating fair rules and regulations. Surprisingly, this American concept of mandatory voting has been a reality for Australians for nearly a century now. Australia’s society, political structure, and government are synonymous with America’s except for one fundamental difference. In 1924, Australian parliament enacted mandatory voting after only 90 minutes of debate, and it’s gone largely unchallenged ever since (Weiner). This begs the question: Why can’t mandatory voting work in the U.S? In his article, Eric Weiner notes that “Australia, along with Belgium, is the only ‘mature democracy’ that requires citizens to vote and actually enforces the law. Americans certainly relate to Australians. “We share similar historical narratives…a frontier spirit, and a laid-back nature...” (Weiner). On average, 48% of the entire American electorate- American citizens eligible to vote- actually cast their ballot on Election Day. That number has dipped to as low as 37% and has only reached a peak of 67%. (McDonald). Thus, even on a high turnout election day, just two-thirds of Americans vote the president and other important
According to The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) there are five main reasons why young people don’t vote. The graph they presented uses census survey data from 2010 for citizens 18-24. The graph was broken down into two groups, those who are and are not in college. The first reason cited was being away from home or out of town, 23% of college students stated this and only 5% of people not in college stated this. 8% of college students said they forgot to vote, and over 12% of those not in college said they forgot to vote or send in a ballot. For students in college, 12% versus 19% of those not in college said that the reason they did not vote is because they were not interested or felt their vote did not count. Another reason for not voting was being too busy or stating that voting conflicted with work for 35% of college students and 30% of those not in colleges. Lastly “other reasons” to not vote was listed as the number one category in those not in college at 33% and 21% for those in college.
The United State of America Founding Fathers created a lasting document when they wrote the declaration of independence in 1776. A document, which was not created right after the Revolution War, was won by the colonies over the British Empire. Through this document they left the ability of the citizens to have a voice in how the government is run and who runs it. With the addition of the Bill of Rights, the Founding Father allowed citizens to know their basic rights are always going to be protected. Voting is a key function of the country as it allows people to vote on the people they want in power. The sole act of voting is not enough because people need to exercise their first amendment rights. Through this right the Citizens of the United