Mandatory Voting In The United States

Section one of the Fifteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution states, “The right of the citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” (U.S. Constitution). However, a perpetual debate exists between political parties, scholars, journalists, and independent citizens, regarding the relevance of voting and if it should be made mandatory in the United States. The debate has each side fighting to win, leaving the independent citizen in the minority makes one ponder on the importance of mandatory voting and the need to enforce it. FairVote, The Center for Voting and Democracy answers the question as they aptly put …show more content…
There are over twenty five countries who have adopted the mandatory voting stance and Australia is renowned for achieving success with this system of voting. Mandatory voting will increase turnout exponentially, by virtue of the minority who will become interested in the politicians that care for their welfare, and hence turn up to vote. It can be argued that mandatory voting may drag the citizen to the polls, however who is to be sure that the vote will be cast. However, in his article, “Mandatory Voting Is an Expression of Civic Duty.” Mac Harb analyzes the motivation of the study and research gathered by the Association for Canadian Studies, “… this generational shift represents a cultural change that could shake the very foundation of our democratic institutions.” He explains that, only one in four Canadian under the age of 25 deemed it necessary to vote, and this low turnout meant that it may be challenging for the young people to be in tune with the system like their parents and grandparent before them. The low turnout subjugated many Canadians. He further cements this by quoting renowned U.S. politician Arend Lijphart, “A political system with the universal right to vote, but with only a tiny fraction of citizens exercising this right should be regard as a democracy in merely a … hollow sense of the terms.” However, with the current system of voting, a lot of young …show more content…
According the Daily Iowan, “Compulsory voting would mean hiring gobs of bureaucrats to make sure everyone voted, throwing money at the courts so they could prosecute the people who failed to vote, along with buying a bunch of new voting machines and recruiting more poll workers.” However, the current system of voting by secret ballot has certainly not helped, it cannot be proven if one casts their vote or not. There are poll workers working the booth on Election Day, yet voters do not show up. It could also be argued that mandatory voting is an infringement on our rights as citizens of the free world, however the fact lives were lost to provide this beautiful gift of democracy, means that our share of the bargain can be fulfilled. With the success rate in countries such as Australia and Canada, it would certainly not be a disservice to test the

Show More