Compulsory: Should Voting Be Mandatory?

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.

In America, many citizens choose not to vote every year. Although, The United States of America is a democracy, Americans should be required to vote. Whether the voting is for local places or for the government, citizens should be required to vote. This will give everyone a chance to speak their minds and learn more about politics. Compulsory voting is important because everyone should have a chance to vote for what they believe in.

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

Americans should not be required to vote, the amount of votes will go up. But since they are not aware of who they are voting for would cause chaos. If they have a problem and want to have their say in the elections they should be able to without be required to with an influence of something. They would still need more ways to higher the voting percentage. But they could do that with several ads convincing them so they have the mindset of voting. Now the odds of the least liked candidate to be voted in to win is fifty fifty.

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

Several countries have mandatory voting for its citizens. Is it something the United States should pursue? Mandatory voting would definitely increase the percentage of votes cast. It would make voting a duty and no longer a right. With most people who vote straight party this would be an advantage to the party who has appeased the most voters as they would come in and cast the quickest vote by straight line voting. It could be possible that knowing you had to vote, one may take more interest in learning more about candidates or constitutional amendments that are on the ballots. However, I am in favor of the opposing view. I think it is a right and privilege and should not be forced upon a person. If you force people to do something they don’t want to do then the you will reap the results. You will have uniformed voters become the majority and making decisions for the country. The politicians base will no longer be the main concern as they now will have to make a push for the politically uneducated voter which will be more about what they can give them than policy issues. This also makes what the

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.

In “Race and Beyond: Why Young, Minority, and Low-Income Citizens Don’t Vote,” Sam Fulwood claims, “Regardless of whether a favored candidate won or popular ballot initiative passed, our nation suffered because of the number of people who didn’t vote at all” (par. 2). I agree with Sam Fulwood and I believe it is so unfortunate that Americans don’t use this right. Voting is one of the most valuable possessions that Americans are given and yet they do not use. Many of the countries around the world do not grant voting rights to their citizens. These countries either have a dictatorship or kingdom which prevents citizens from voting. People need to understand the sufferings of those people who struggled for this right. When the United States

Abraham Lincoln said, “Elections belong to the people. It's their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they will just have to sit on their blisters.” Voting is our “civic duty” and this speaks to the idea that the future is ours, so we need to play a part in shaping it. Voting is our chance to do something to benefit our society through the democratic process, but it doesn’t stop there.

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.

The right to vote has been fought for many generations both past and present. The woman’s suffrage movement ,which began in 1848, not only give women the right to vote but allowed the struggles of woman be known. During the 1950’s and 1960’s many black activist fought for fair and equal voting rights.Today, all Americans, over the age of 18, have the right to do so. Although this may be true, is it our civic duty to vote? Moreover, should Americans be required to vote? According to text 3, line 1, Some believe that mandatory voting restricts democracy while others believe it expands it. In American history, there has been a period of time when a woman and/or people of color could not vote and consequently people fought for these rights. The

While people or individuals who are part of a democratic system may have the responsibility to vote, compulsory voting isn 't necessarily justifiable under a democracy. This is not to say that only countries that are democratic practice voting compulsion-take Egypt and Singapore for example. However, the right to vote, a privilege within the western world, is also a primary counter

For many countries mandatory voting has worked well but that alone does not mean that it will work well for the United States. There are many factors that have to be considered first. All countries that have implemented compulsory voting are smaller than the United States and do not share all of our culture and values. Many Americans prize their sense of freedom and place it above all else. Mandatory