Compulsory Voting in the United States

In essence, voting serves as the cornerstone of any foundation. Over the past few decades, voters have helped address critical issues like gender equality in a referendum, which continues to be witnessed today. Despite being a civic duty, few people turn out to vote, particularly in the United States, as compared to other countries like Australia, Belgium, and Brazil, to name a few. As per the United States Census Bureau, the average voter turnout during the presidential elections often falls below 60 percent, while that of midterm elections drops to 43 percent (Harvard Kennedy School, 2020). Conversely, Australia records a higher voter turnout of about 90 percent all through in local, state, and federal elections (Harvard Kennedy School, 2020). Australia practices mandatory voting, such that eligible voters who fail to vote are penalized through denial of certain services and fines of up to 80 dollars (LX News, 2022). Nonetheless, countries that record higher voter turnout accrue more legitimacy.

Another advantage of compulsory voting is more representation and political egalitarianism, which posits that every person possesses equal social power in governmental and work politics. Statistics reveal that 38 percent of unregistered nonvoters trust in electoral results (Harvard Kennedy School, 2020). Enforcing mandatory voting significantly contributes to a more politically informed population, but barriers exist, including logistical and physical barriers (America from Scratch, 2019). Thus, imposing compulsory voting without lowering existing barriers can be argued as another radical approach to compelled speech. Rosenberg (2019) argued that mandatory voting demands more resource allocation for validity in addition to increasing informal votes. Plus, forcing people with little political interest to the polls makes them vote for random political candidates (Washington Post, 2018). Instead of making it compulsory, the United States should enact policies to encourage civic voting, including increasing opportunities for early voting and automatic plus same-day voter registration. Therefore, the government must first address voting barriers to conveniently improve turnout.

References

America from Scratch. (2019). Should the U.S.A. have mandatory voting? [Video]. YouTube.

Harvard Kennedy School. (2020). Should we make people vote? [Video]. YouTube.

LX News. (2022). Voting in Australia is mandatory — and fun. Could it work in the US? [Video]. YouTube.

Rosenberg, M. (2019). Pros and cons of compulsory voting. ThoughtCo.

Washington Post. (2018). Should voting be compulsory? And that’s why I’m right [Video]. YouTube.

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StudyCorgi. 2023. "Compulsory Voting in the United States." July 9, 2023. https://studycorgi.com/compulsory-voting-in-the-united-states/.

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