Should voting in presidential elections be mandatory for all U.S. adults? Mandatory voting is a system in which citizens are required by law to participate in and vote in elections. This may be something we Americans are unfamiliar with, but not the rest of the world. There are about twenty countries in the world that have mandatory voting with legal consequences. While the specifics can vary by country, the underlying principle is that citizens must cast a vote, or they could face penalties, fines, or other punishments if they do not vote. I think that voting in presidential elections should be mandatory for all U.S. adults. Required voting benefits society and should be implemented because it increases voter turnout, promotes civic engagement, …show more content…
By making all citizens participate in the presidential electoral process, it instills a collective sense of responsibility towards shaping the future of the nation. This emphasizes the role that each individual plays in the democratic fabric of society. This gives people more control and say in their government, which brings stability and confidence, “...some citizens, initially empowered by their votes, would be drawn to deepen their participation in other aspects of civic life (The Regulatory Review).” When citizens are forced to vote, they become obligated to educate themselves about political issues, engage in conversation with their peers, and actively participate in the entire democratic process, from start to finish. Mandatory voting encourages citizens to become more informed about political issues and candidates. This increase in civic engagement not only strengthens the sense of community, but it also creates a shared sense of purpose and belonging. Mandatory voting has repeatedly resulted in higher voter turnout. This can be seen by the experiences of countries like Australia, Belgium, and Brazil that have implemented compulsory
The American presidential elections function is dramatically different than previous years. According to PBS, only 58 percent of eligible voters came to vote in the 2016 election (Regan 2016). By examining the drop in voter polls, the cost of campaigning, and outdated American voting system, it is clear that the United States should have mandatory voting. Voter polls greatly affect the outcome of the election. Campaigning cost has become very excessive for the candidates running. Exceptional results
vote a year, according to the United States Election Project. More than eight million Americans won’t vote on Election day typically, because many Americans simply don’t think their vote would matter but that's not true. Every vote counts just as much as anybody else’s vote This is the reason why I think voting should be mandatory. If the United States passed a law that requires American citizens to vote then this would change the percentage of voting tremendously and make a big difference in this
important 2014 election (McDonald). Fixing the issue of low voter turnout won’t be a one-step process, but it has the potential to transform American politics forever. American citizens should be required to vote in all general elections to greatly increase voter turnout in order to increase the influence of democracy and improve American politics. Low voter turnout has become an epidemic among American voters. With each passing election,
Does Nonvoting Hurt Democracy? Should we have the freedom to chose weather we vote or not? Currently the United States allows citizens not to vote, but some believe that this makes our politics undemocratic. Some think forcing people to vote is against the freedoms we have today. In the following essay, I will give the views of Arend Lijphart and Austin Ranney about these topics. Austin Ranney does not dread that low voting is hurting American democracy. Arend Lijphart believes that democracy
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. Adding restrictions of voting such as implementing fines will utterly change the prevalence of our nature in our country. In source #1 (“Telling Americans to Vote , or Else) by William A. Galston,
Mandatory Voting This year there is a major decision to be made. Whether a person is a conservative or liberal, democrat or republican, right or left leaning, they should be apart of deciding who becomes the leader of the free world. Although the candidates for 2016 are not the optimum choices, with Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, respectively the forerunners for the republican and democrat parties, the American people have the power to choose who they believe is the best fit to run the country
let’s talk further about mandatory voting in Brazil. According to PBS Organization, electoral participation and mandatory voting were integrated in Brazil’s government system. Even though most of compulsory voting nations are in the western hemisphere, this process has not been studied by experts in depth as they have been doing it with Brazil. Voter turnout is conditioned by the enforcement of the law in the nation's citizens. According to the Superior Court of Brazil, voting in the country is more
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
Should America Consider Compulsory Voting? Have you ever wondered if america should have compulsory voting? Ever since World War II our presidential elections have not included 65% or higher in voter turnout. Voting is important because, voting lets the citizens express their feelings towards the subject, it also lets the government know if it has support from it's citizens.Our low voter turnout rates are causing people to question the legitimacy of our government. Places such as Australia and
In America, barely 60% of registered voters have participated in presidential elections. Voting is crucial in democracies as it allows citizens to elect leaders and shape policies. Some countries enforce compulsory voting to boost voter turnout and legitimacy. However, concerns arise about forcing citizens to vote and the risk of uninformed decisions. Striking a balance between encouraging participation and respecting individual choice is key to maintaining democratic integrity. Ultimately, the debate
in my doctor’s office was a question about what I needed to do now that I turned 18 years old. I replied that I needed to apply to college because I was finally an adult. Much to my surprise, that was not the answer he wanted. To him, voting for the first time should be my first priority now that I was an adult. Our conversation had a huge impact on me because I had never considered my new right to vote or even put much thought into politics in general. The right to vote and learning about the United
Voters in many areas of the U.S. are apt to vote differently as a whole from election to election. The nation has also had a decreased turnout rate for the presidential and local elections. The South has typically not followed these patterns that the rest of has seemed to be following. The Southern whites of the U.S. have typically followed and voted for the more conservative candidate and party. Where as the Southern blacks have typically (when they have been able to vote) voted for the more liberal
participation is at an extremely low rate in the United States. According to Regan, only around fifty-three percent of registered voters actually turned up to the voting booth to cast their votes in the 2016 presidential election (2016). The causation of this epidemic can be explained using numerous trends found throughout American society. Although voting is only one facet of participation in politics, likewise involvement through other means is also very low. This causes numerous complications in regards
States, and perhaps this image of the United States is not unwarranted. The reason for this is that the U.S. holds itself as the model for how democratic nations should be run. Democracy, as most people should know, is a system of government where the people are responsible for determining the course action their nation will take by voting. In theory, this can occur through direct democracy where the people vote on nearly every issue that arises. However, there is no true direct democracy that exists
VIEWPOINTS ESSAY Introduction American Democracy was rooted by “the Framers” through the Constitution. The Constitution set forth key functions that are practiced till this day by the American Government . The Framer created these function in government as a mechanism that is for and by the people . The debate as to whether American Democracy is either failing or succeeding has been a worldwide discussion amongst the people of America. My position in this question is that American Democracy is