Say NO to compulsory voting
Voter turnout in America is one of the lowest in first-world democratic countries. According to Wilson and DeIulio, 47.2% of the voting-age population voted and 63.4% of registered voters voted in the 1996-2001 elections1. Since a democracy is supposed to reflect the opinion of voters, low turnout can be seen as a problem. If less than half of people vote, it is difficult to argue that everyone is represented, and one could even argue that democracy has failed in this country. However, this is clearly not the case, and it is hard to argue that compulsory voting will be helpful to this country.
The benefit of compulsory voting is that everyone will technically be represented, realizing the ideal of democracy. One argument as to why turnout is so low is that it is tedious for Americans to register to vote, since it requires filling out paperwork and keeping updated records. Also, there have historically been many obstacles for certain people to vote, such as African Americans and women. The grandfather clause, literacy tests, poll taxes, and intimidation were all used to keep eligible African Americans from registering to vote. Making voting compulsory and automatically registering all eligible citizens, like how it’s done in some European countries, will once and for all solve these problems.
However, low turnout cannot be explained by how difficult it is to register. Even after making the process easier with the motor-voter law in 1993, and the passing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, there is not much evidence that turnout has increased, even though there are more registered voters1. One possible reason for the low turnout in national elections is that because of the winner-takes-all system, some voters feel like they don’t need to vote, as their state historically always goes to the same party. A person in Massachusetts can safely assume that the Democratic Party will win, and someone in Texas can assume that the Republican Party will win. Also, Americans separately elect every government official, as opposed to many European countries where one vote is used to determine a much larger outcome. Another reason is that there are many other ways of being politically active that can have more impact than voting, such as holding public demonstrations. For example, King’s March on Washington had much more impact than votes could ever convey.
There are too many fundamental problems in compulsory voting that will ensure it does not happen in America. First and most importantly, it is unconstitutional to force people to vote. The founding fathers wanted to ensure that government not intrude on personal liberties, and the right to vote, or not to vote, is one of those liberties. Second, forcing people to vote would be detrimental as some people simply do not care about politics, and do not know much about the candidates. They would vote blindly, or worse, randomly. For example, a demagogue could receive votes simply because people have heard of his name, and being forced to vote, put his name on the ballot on Election Day, not knowing any of his credentials or beliefs.
In conclusion, compulsory voting is not good for America. Low turnout is not a problem as voting is designed to be voluntary, and voting is not the only means of political representation and expression. The system is fine as it is and should be left alone.
1 James Q. Wilson and John J. DiIulio, Jr. American Government: The Essentials. 9th ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004, p. 132-133