Should Voting Be Compulsory Essay

America, known as “the land of the free and the home of the brave,” is a country recognized for it’s freedom and rights. As a country, at almost every turn, America has shown it’s responsibility and priority towards it citizens. Specifically, with the opportunity to vote. Being able to vote for presidents, senators, and governors is a very strong right that Americans hold in their hand and for many others in neighboring countries, this can be a sheer dream. Recently, Ohio passed a new law, stating that citizens who did not regularly vote for four years and were unresponsive to any kind of sent notice, would be removed from voting rolls; therefore, the name, “Use it or Lose it.” This is unconstitutional and should not only be revoked, but a new program should be enacted to address certain issues that were addressed under this “purging” law.

In Canada, voter turnout has become a major issue; as there is a large amount of the population that does not vote in elections. Back in 2008, a total of 58% of the countries` population voted in the election. This is a startling low number, which since has begun to increase only slightly in recent years. In a democratic society, voting is essential for it to function with its full potential. Doing so enacts one of your basic responsibilities as a citizen, as well as shows that you are staying involved in your community and government. The serious lack of voter turnout contradicts this responsibility. There are individuals who speculate that it would be beneficial to make voting mandatory, with repercussions for those who do not vote.

With compulsory voting many countries become successful. Germany,Peru, Australia and many more countries have been required to vote since the late 1800’s to the late 1900’s (Doc A). In Brazil those who don 't vote have to pay a fine, causing many to not miss their voting slot time

Even though the citizens do not vote up to global standards, they participate in other means such as voicing their opinions. These low voter turnout stats may be altered using a compulsory vote law, national online voting to eliminate complications and hassle, and increasing the education about the government process of elections of citizens to prove that everyone’s vote does matter. The suggested solution that would have the strongest impact is the compulsory vote law which requires citizens eligible to vote to participate in the voting and election process. Through these suggested solutions, the causes of not voting, lack of time, the complication of registration, and the opinion of voters that their individual vote does not matter, will be eliminated and the voter turnout will raise to acceptable standards and enable the candidates to have full citizen

Over the course of time Americans have been  fighting for the right of freedom. There was a once a time when only white males who owned land were able to vote. However, now some individuals are requesting that America has a mandatory voting law. Mandatory voting is the creation of a law to obligate every American citizen vote. If any citizen does not vote, he or she may face consequences such as a fine. Mandatory voting can have many disadvantages and advantages, that can result in either creating problems or solving them.

Voting is considered like paying taxes nowadays, even though it is a responsibility and a duty for them to do towards their country, some people support it and others don’t. The advocates of the compulsory voting argue that

The United States currently faces a severe problem with one of their governmental processes. In the democratic system of the United States, politicians are elected by voting from the citizens, in most cases. The problem the United States is facing is that people are no longer voting in elections for officials. This problem is discussed in the article, “In praise of low voter turnout”, written by Charles Krauthammer. The main idea behind this article is that voters are no longer interested in politics, as they were in previous generations. As the United States establishes itself as a superpower, the need for politics becomes less important to the citizens. Also, we are experiencing a shift in focus to developing more technology and building

Some states are already moving towards mandatory voting like Oregon. Mandatory voting would produce sincerely legitimate elections. It would prevent the alleviation of the different views of our politics. If voting was mandatory, more Americans would acknowledge and pay attention to the possible selections. I think that citizens need to be educated about the importance and history of voting and how it became a right before mandatory voting becomes implemented, so that citizens would understand why it is important to vote and therefore would be more likely to vote. If people are required to vote without why they would vote, they would do it, but only because they have to, meaning they will not care who they vote for. Because of this, it is useless

Viewed as one of the healthiest democracies in the world, the United States is always referred to as an example that other countries should follow. However, one of the key characteristics of a healthy democracy is a high voter-turnout. If people do not turn up on Election Day, it is likely that they do not see the point of holding elections or the conditions are not suitable for them to vote. People vote because they believe that their vote has the power to make changes in the country. Voter apathy often develops when voters do not see voting as a way of voicing their concerns. America therefore continues to tread on risky ground, if a way of increasing voter turnout is not found.

Evidence of this is in ”Unequal Participation: Democracy’s Unresolved Dilemma, American Political Science Review, Vol.91 No.1” by an Australian supporter of compulsory voting, this states that by compelling people to vote, we are likely to arouse them with an intelligent interest and to give them a political knowledge that they do hold at present process. This evidence helps explain why Americans should be required to vote because, if people don't vote, nothing will get fixed, for example: schools, offices, and, libraries.

The argument for compulsory voting is basically undemocratic because the first amendment talks about how you have freedom. The freedom of choice must include the freedom not to choose. Democracy deeply values individual freedom which means if compulsory voting was mandatory, It is a clear violation of liberty and the first amendment. I argue that voting should not be mandatory in America because first, non-voters are uninformed, it doesn’t improve the democratic climate, and it requires a national database.

Throughout the recent years the majority of the able voting population are exercising their privilege to vote. Even during the presidential elections the voter turnout rate was 50% or less than that. The act of voting should be a personal responsibility of every citizen meaning it should be a obligation. But to specify on this statement, it should not lawfully required to vote because people also have the right not to vote too (and it would be weakening personal liberties) , but it should be a personal responsibility for citizens if they are to complain about how the government run rather than every citizen. A personal responsibility is when we are the cause of our own actions. Through voting we are responsible on who gets into office. Elected representatives are responsible more many choices

Everyone has the right to vote, but many don’t take that opportunity. In the article “Should Voting Be Mandatory?” Eric Liu tells us that “mandatory voting would prompt more Americans to pay attention to the choices;” people usually never pay attention to their choices, and then complain about it later when everything has already happened. (Par 5). Mandatory voting means that every citizen of the age of 18 and above that has a right to vote must vote. The thing that confuses me the most is that the people from The Civil Rights Movement fought so hard for equal voting rights, but the modern American citizens’ still don’t try to vote even though now all the citizens’ can vote. If we are given a right that people died for, then we should take a stand and vote, so that elections can be fair. Americans’ should vote to voice their opinion on important matter to move the country forward. Voting have to be mandatory for all citizen.

Voting should be an guarantee for every citizen of the United States of America, and having to go through the forms of Voter Suppression shouldn’t be a option.Voting is a element in life that should be offered to people with the requirements, and every vote counts. As Barack Obama once said, “ Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we

One of the things that makes America so great is its election process. The US elections are fair and not rigged by the people in power(as far as the public knows.) Despite this, there are still some people who try and get the elections to go one way. This is called voter fraud. Voter fraud can take many different forms, switching ballots, tampering with results, pressuring voters, and voting in the place of others. The last one, voting in the place of others, has sparked a debate about requiring photo ID to vote.