The Pros And Cons Of Voting

Today for most Australian’s the potential of what a vote can represent is lost in political apathy and some could argue that this directly relates to how the leaders of the two main political parties continually compete for the populist vote. This environment is dominated by the media portrayal of our political parties and as a result of this, policies for the long term interests of the country have become secondary to short term wins (Marsh, 2010).

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 a perfect democracy every citizen has equal accessible amount of power and freedom. In Australia everyone Australian

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 recent years, society has noticed increasingly minute numbers of voters. Regardless of what is causing people to stay home, it is a big issue. Voting is a right, every citizen is entitled to having a voice in the government. We can choose to vote or we can choose to abstain. This is not an issue, until voting numbers are so low it is hard to even call elections. To help fix this, countries have implemented a system called "Compulsory Voting", or more blatantly put as "Mandatory Voting". This system would require all citizens (capable) to vote. On paper, this seems like a good idea. However, it is a removal of right. To have a right is to have an option. We as citizens have the right to almost anything we want. The Constitution gives us options. You wouldn't say we have the right to pay taxes. We are required to pay taxes. Obligations are not considered rights. Making the right to vote mandatory would be removing one keyword. RIGHT.

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

A strong democratic government rest on citizens exercising their power of voting. Even though in many countries including United States, entitled voters don’t vote during Presidential Elections. This paper will explain that Federal Voting should be mandatory in United States. Many people in United States try their best to stay away from political affairs not realizing the importance politics. Voting is one of the most common ways to get involved in politics. Firstly this paper will state the main problems for the non-voters. Moving forward, why it is necessary and important to vote? And lastly the outcomes if people doesn’t voted. Votes determine who will be responsible in considering laws and their enforcement to all the Americans. By this

Two judges, Kenneth Hayne and Dyson Heydon agreed also with Howard government’s argument. Both the judges also banned under 21 and most women not to vote, many states imposed property or income qualifications, and most Aborigines and Pacific islanders and other “coloured persons” were denied the vote.

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

In this referendum, 54.87% of the population voted in the negative to Australia becoming a republic. The result obtained through this nationwide ballot show that the overwhelming majority of Australian’s have chosen to not become a republic when presented the opportunity. Additionally, they contest that the current system of governance has effectively worked since the days of conception to now. So a system which has been functional and a major source of stability for over 116 years, doesn’t require any restructuring or overhaul. Another argument held by the right wing conservatives is that in being constitutional monarchy under the monarch of Great Britain we have gained many advantages such as important relations with the UK and other Commonwealth countries, these relations have allowed us to become the functional, strong and independent country we are today. Another argument held by the monarchists is that the cost of changing to a republic would be astronomically high. The previous expenses spent to run the 1999 referendums which was $87.5 million as well as the estimated costs of changing references to the monarchy in government stationary, letter-headers, logos, etc are estimated to go into the billions of dollars. Expenditure of this magnitude is currently not viable considering the

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 our system of government we are privileged with the option to take part in the political process that runs the country. It is our right to vote that lets the people influence change in policy and set the guidelines that politicians must follow to be elected representatives. This precious ability, which is most coveted in most non-democratic countries, is taken for granted in our own.

The main contemporary federal policy that will be examined is the amendments that have been made to the voting acts which empowered states to decide and make judgments on who is eligible to vote. The research will look into how this undermines the rights to vote in our modern society. In particular, the research will focus on the amendment made on the 1965 voting rights act that internationally defined eligibility of a voter with the inclusion of minority groups. A ruling made by the Supreme Court in 2013 gave power to states to determine and register eligible voters. This in my opinion, and from data collected from different articles gave states a chance to create more restrictions on voting rights. Social welfare associations think that beneficiaries of such laws have created a status quo which results in discrimination. The research will look at the impact of such contemporary policies and examine its effect on voting rights and societal perception of inequality.

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

The piece Advance Australia … within reason, was conveyed on the 5th of January by Amy Mackintosh, at the annual “University of Students for Youth Political Activism’ meeting held at The University of Melbourne. Mackintosh steadily argues the reasons why Australia should not have become a republic, and how the country should stay as a monarchy. The tone of the speech is very colloquial and even sarcastic, with the middle part being more analytical and serious. The speaker gives the impression that the argument for Australia to stay as a Monarchy is unbiased and logical.