Voting In The United States

To make the United States significantly more democratic, a new system would need to be implemented encourage voter participation. To be a democracy, you must have most eligible voters participate. While we are a republic, we are still democratic currently. Compared to many other democratic nations, the U.S. has a very low voter turnout. While we may be considered a democratic society, we do not involve enough of our citizens in the democratic process. Since most people do not vote we are not truly a democracy. If more eligible voters were to vote, it would greatly change how our political system currently works. A broader spectrum of voters would shape policies and decisions differently. The additional voters would aid in more accurately deciding upon what the entirety of society wishes. To increase voter turnout, there would need to be more than incentive or change to voting practices. There is no easy solution to voter turnouts, but rather a collective movement of changes that together would greatly increase voting.

If voter registration was mandatory, similar to the selective service act, every eighteen-year-old would have to register upon their birthday. Another method in which new adults could be registered, could be the implementation of a new database. This database would keep track of Social Security numbers and the ages of the citizens. Once they turn eighteen they could be automatically registered. Although registration alone will not force people to vote, it will increase the likelihood of someone voting who would not have registered if not mandated to. As of 2008, the same Census Bureau study also found that 30 million eligible voters were not registered. If even a fraction of those eligible voters been registered, that could mean millions of extra votes. By having those millions of votes, it would make the entire system more