preview

Why We Should Be Required To Vote

Decent Essays

The right to vote, especially in a democracy, is a big deal. It’s one of the biggest ways that citizens can express how they feel about their government and what people they feel should lead it. New democracies that hold elections tend to have high voter turnout and enthusiasm. In America, we have one of the oldest democracies, and yet since World War 2, we haven’t had a presidential election with 65% or more of registered voters. The lack of voters makes it difficult to determine if our government is legitimate and really what the people want. Many ideas have been presented to help with solving this issue, but the most controversial has to be required voting. Citizens would have to vote, and if they don’t, they’d have to face some sort of consequence. In my opinion, required voting goes against what we stand for as a democracy, and our right to choose. Americans shouldn’t be required to vote because we have the right not to, and because of the increase in uninformed voting, unfavorable attitudes & political dissatisfaction. …show more content…

To force someone to vote even though they don’t want to, not only goes against their rights, it also goes against our basic beliefs as a nation. Even if you force someone to vote, that doesn’t necessarily mean they won’t make blank or null ballots to avoid the punishment that comes along with not voting. In Peru where there’s mandatory voting and an enforced penalty of $35, 13% of the votes are blank or null. (Document E) As said in Document G, telling someone to just vote, is not expressing civic virtue. You’re not more or less of a citizen if you

Get Access