Arguments Against Compulsory Voting

That means you don’t have to vote if you don’t want to. “People feel that if you have the right to vote you have the right to not vote. In fact, some people might even interpret mandatory voting as a violation of [the] First Amendment’s prohibition of compelled speech.” If mandatory voting became apart of our Government system it would also be breaking rules as well. There for making voting mandatory in our government is completely going against everything or country was founded upon.

“Requiring citizens to vote is no more restrictive than requiring them to register for the draft” (Doc C). Voting will just be added to a list of what Americans need to do for their country. If we can drive on the same side of the road constantly, voting every once in awhile won’t be a huge problem. “In sum, voting is the least a citizen can do for his or her country” (Doc C). Voting is a form of freedom of speech, when people vote they vote for what they believe in and most people want what’s best for the country. “It is not unreasonable to ask US citizens to do this minimal thing” (Doc

Voting has been a core part of our government since the very beginning, however, many citizens chose not to take part in this essential participation. To prevent any one person from gaining too much power voting was put in place as well as checks and balances in the system by the founding fathers. While not everything is decided by voting because our government is a Constitutional Republic, voting is by far the most important way a citizen can participate in the government. Therefore, it’s baffling that people chose not to vote. As Franklin D. Roosevelt said, “Nobody will ever deprive the American people of the right to vote except the American people themselves and the only way they could do this is by not voting.” While we can all agree that voting is important there is a debate on whether it should be mandatory. Voting should be an optional but important way to participate in the government.

A very controversial topic in the United States is whether or not Americans should be required to vote. Voting is a very essential piece to democracy, but many Americans today are not attending their voting location and supporting the candidate they feel is best. In recent elections, just 60% of registered voters casted their vote for a candidate. This is an issue that many people are not happy about, but whether or not there is reason to fix it is the other side to the case. Voter participation is an issue that has been going on for years, and no laws are in place currently to bring it up. Americans have been proud to live in a “free country”, and a law forcing citizens to vote may be against America’s principles. Compulsory voting should

In fact, in Document C it states that “requiring citizens to vote is no more restricitve than requiring them to register for the draft.” Forcing people to vote is gonna result in a unwanted voting result that might hurt the country in the end. The random vote that the people you are forcing to vote will not help us in anyway even though they want the voting percentage to go up think about all the terrible results that will come out. If they do not want any say in voting do not force them. Let the people who want to voice their opinion and are educated go out and vote.

At www.washingtonpost.com, they reported that thirty-five percent of people who didn’t vote, didn’t as they couldn’t get time off from work or leave school. If these people had to vote, they would have to have time off to do so, allowing more people to vote. However, there is another reason to make voting required for all United States citizens. Currently, U.S. citizens living in any territory of the U.S., can’t vote. This includes notable territories like Washington, D.C., American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, but includes all. Also, felons can’t vote in various states. ww2.kqed.org reports that up to six millions Americans will not be able to vote due to felon disenfranchisement laws. If all U.S. citizens had to vote, it could pave the way for getting voting rights to these

Voting is a right that was given to us by the democracy government system. I believe that when it comes to voting everybody participate in their civil duty much like jury duty, or doing your taxes if they are of age. Instead of giving U.S citizens the option to vote, making it mandatory to vote will ensure that everybody will have a say into how

At last, its 21st Century Democracy in United States, that is why nothing but a general view for mandatory voting has nothing to do with today’s politics. It’s almost signifying the central promise of American citizenship. Generally saying, let’s eat the cake for which many generation marched, fought and died. As discussed in the paper, everyone have their own problems but giving a few minutes to vote can solve this problems for future generations. Making federal voting mandatory will bring a big change in the way the candidates offer beneficial speeches. And this will make America

The debate over compulsory vs. non-compulsory voting is a complex subject matter to say the least, that has sparked much controversy in recent times with almost all strongly in favor of one side of the argument and or the other. This highly polarized debate has sparked in popularity in recent times because of a quote by former president Barak Obama in which he said that “It would be transformative if everybody voted”. It is believed that if everyone voted that could and was eligible then the domination of hard core partisans within the political system would be in part quelled as the candidates went where the votes are, which would be away from the extremes. Moreover some studies show that mandatory voting decreases the rates of uninformed voters within an area as voting becomes more of a civic duty than right. While the institution of compulsory voting would have a short term effect of increasing the rate of uninformed voters,

Voting in many countries is held in different ways. In The United States of America, voting is voluntary while the Australian citizen has to vote, it is compulsory. When an Australian citizen does not vote they receive a fine. Compulsory voting has now become a large political issue for many countries. Great Britain has seen a dramatic decline in the number of people voting in the last 15 years (Singh, 2014) and compulsory voting has become a large political and social debate. However, as with any political change, there are strengths and weaknesses. The Australian system is an excellent one to analyse as the question has to be asked when introducing compulsory voting what are the long term democratic, economic and social issues? Four key points can be outlined to consider the strengths and weaknesses of the Australian compulsory voting system. The first, compulsory voting provides a clear and accurate representation of an entire electorate. Additionally, this system may influence an increase in support for the leftist policy in a current democratic institution. Another key issue to consider is, does an active and informed citizen have a moral duty and obligation to vote to protect and further society? Key constitutional changes brought about by referendums can prove that compulsory voting is essential and needed in society for every vote to count. Lastly, compulsory voting when being a secret ballot can turn into a more compulsory “turn up” for many citizens as they can

To every political system there are many positives and negatives and one critique of compulsory voting systems is that informal and uninterested voting is increased. It has been advocated that compulsory voting brings a large amount of “uninterested voters” to the polls and in turn cast votes that are clearly inconsistent with their own political values compared to those who are more informed and motivated voluntary voters (Selb and Latchat, 2009). In this case the primary concern is when people are forced to vote they will either pick a candidate at random or spoil their ballot which consequently, does not make the outcome of the election representative of the people’s interests. If certain individuals are not interested in politics they should not be forced to contribute in one of the most salient political statements practiced in Canada (Selb and Latchat, 2009). They have the right to choose their level of political participation.

In some countries there are legal repercussions for not voting, such as Australia. In ancient Grease, all citizens were required to vote at election time under penalty of imprisonment. This may not be the best course of action for America, were people might see it as imposing on there freedom of choice. There are other less dramatic options that can be considered.

In recent years, due to non compulsory voting, our national affairs and international affairs have been affected. America should have compulsory voting because of increased voter turnout rates, the questionability of the legitimacy of our government and the education of politics for the people.

One reason why Americans should not be required to vote is because citizens have liberty to choose to vote or don’t vote. Evidence supporting this reason is compulsory voting just like potemkin facade, citizens have no liberty, citizens should have the liberty to choose what they want. This

At a City Hall meeting in Cleveland, Ohio when asked about the topic of mandatory voting laws (Jackson 2015), President Obama stated, “If everybody voted, then it would completely change the political map in this country.” (Stephanopoulos 2015 p5) (Evidence: Testimony) He is right, if everyone voted the political map in the country would be completely different---and not for the better. Compulsory voting can potentially cause the nation 's true political viewpoints to be misrepresented, thus hindering political progression, by making voters feel obligated to choose candidates that may not represent their ideas and forcing the politically disengaged to select random ballots.