Should Voting be Compulsory in the US?

vote_here_sign_in_taft_texas — *Taft, Texas. Photo by Jay Phagan*

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states in Article 21: “The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.”

The United States has the lowest voter turnout records for a democratic society in the Western World and typically, those who aren’t able to vote are from lower socio-economic areas and minority groups whom struggle to reach polling stations due to distance, Republican tactics of voter disinformation, deliberate attempts to purge voters, refusal of registration for certain voters and long waiting times that can discourage people from attending.

Tomorrow (Tuesday, November 8^th) the United States will have an election that could either vote in a Democrat or the Chancellor turned Sith Lord who turns the Galactic Federation into the Empire with extreme responses to acts of rebellion, shoddy weaponry systems and attempts to wipe out a religion because it’s considered a threat to the Sith’s rule.

Setting aside the sheer foolishness of having polls open on a working week day without a sausage sizzle in sight-an act that would surely lead to street riots in Australia- the latest poll on Real Clear Politics showed only one point difference between four years of continuity in the United States and the last four years the United States might ever have.

However, in 2012, voter turnout was only 57.5% and when the approval rating of both candidates is at historic lows, it is unlikely that this election will see a dramatic increase in that number; this means that the countries future is in the hands of the minor few instead of the majority.

Yet, in 2008, a study revealed that the previous elections of 2000 and 2004 could have swung to the Democrats if there had been universal turnout as encouraged by compulsory voting.

So why doesn’t America have compulsory voting?

*A view of the Australia Parliament on the 2016 election day. It is a famously tasty day in one of the only countries to have compulsory voting. Photo by Democracysausage*

Compulsory voting is only enforced in twenty-two countries across the world (and one Swiss canton) and in those countries the fines for not voting are typically so low as to be considered symbolic more than a diversionary tactic. One of the more common arguments against compulsory voting in America is the first amendment of the Constitution which allows for freedom of religious practise, which for over one million Americans who are Jehovah’s Witnesses, means the right not to participate in political happenings. More famously, it allows for freedom of speech, for which it is claimed that compulsory voting is compelled speech and thus a violation of that right. In this case America’s liberty might be its downfall.

Click here for more by Emma Danks-Lambert.