Why compulsory voting is bad

Unfortunately, the people who most often fail to vote are the ones who are already left behind—the poor, the unemployed, the less educated, and the homeless.

If voting were mandatory in the U. Compulsory voting would also allow candidates to spend less time getting voters to the polls and more on explaining where they stand on key issues. Australia has had mandatory voting for federal elections since As a result, about 94 percent of eligible voters turn out.

On top of that, perhaps because more people are involved in choosing their representatives, Australians tend to have higher levels of trust in their government than Americans have in theirs. According to a recent poll by the Pew Research Center , only about 22 percent of Americans have a high level of trust in the federal government. If Americans want their government to truly be of the people, by the people, and for the people, everyone has to go to the polls on Election Day.

Our country is built on the idea of freedom. Forcing someone to vote takes away that freedom. Rather than requiring people to vote or punishing them for not voting, we should find ways to encourage them to pick our leaders. If Election Day were a national holiday, more people would have time to go vote. Doing so would flood the polls with millions of uninformed voters. Some Americans know a lot about politics, economics, foreign affairs, and current events.

Others know hardly anything. Requiring uninformed people to vote would be like forcing them to fly an airplane or perform surgery without training. Elections have high stakes. Our votes help influence matters of war and peace, poverty and prosperity, justice and injustice—not just in the U. Bad decisions at the polls can result in devastating wars, damaging laws, and disastrous economic policies. Some people argue that voting is a civic responsibility. In my view, Americans who choose not to vote can exercise their civic duties in other ways, such as volunteering to help their communities or serving on a jury.

But if they do vote, they owe it to themselves—and others—to be informed about the issues on the ballot. For instance, we have the right to write novels or do science experiments, but it would be a violation of our individual freedom if the government forced us to do those things.

Why should voting be any different? There are better ways to fix low voter turnout in the U. While some countries only require registered voters to participate, others have automatic registration and so require ballot-casting for all. Countries also vary in how much they enforce their laws. While the fine applied to non-voters is easily waived in Australia, it can be pricey for folks in Peru; in Brazil, non-voters can be denied a passport.

Regardless of structure, though, scholars have found some commonalities in how compulsory voting changes a society. One clear impact: It increases voter turnout. Elections in which citizens are required to vote also have less money involved in the process. Compulsory elections can also lead to policies that are more inclusive of socioeconomically disadvantaged groups, at least in some countries.

After compulsory voting was introduced nationwide in Australia in , the country increased its spending on pensions , an issue of particular import for progressives at the time, one study found. But in places where income inequality is already great, such as Latin America, the relationship between higher voter turnout and more progressive policies is harder to prove.

Instead, politicians may replace their plans for redistributive policies with individual favors to win votes, says Dosek. Voters are more engaged in the process, and have more confidence in the outcome. The benefits of compulsory voting do come at a cost. One is purely logistical. Even more money is needed to ensure that the experience of voting is relatively painless.

Expanding the pool of voters can have negative side effects, too. While compulsory voting decreases the chances of fraud, in some places it increases the likelihood that someone might sell their vote. Letters to the Editor: For the love of God, stop showing photos of vaccine needles. All Sections. About Us. B2B Publishing. Business Visionaries. Hot Property. Times Events. Times Store.