Some people may like to claim America is the pioneer of democracy or that our democracy is the greatest on Earth. While our democracy may be great, it is not without some serious flaws and one of these major flaws was recently highlighted in the midterm elections: low voter turnout.
As outlined by centuries of theory and practice, civic participation, especially in terms of voting in the representative democracy of the United States, is pivotal to the long-term success of a democratic system. This is because in its nature, the power of democracy is derived from the people. Therefore if only a small chunk of people choose to participate in the political process by voting, as was the case in the latest midterm elections as well as other recent large-scale elections, our core democratic principles will falter because power is no longer being properly derived from the people.
Due to this, as well as the possibility of voter turnout becoming progressively lower in future elections, I propose that the United States adopt a mandatory voting system. An example of such a system is Australia where everyone is required to vote by law and a moderate fine is in place for anyone who is eligible to vote but fails to do so. While this idea may seem anti-democratic on the surface, it is important to note that while everyone is required to cast a ballot, they are not required to choose a candidate.
Submitting a blank ballot is a completely legal and commonly used voting method in Australia as well as other countries that have institutionalized compulsory voting. I propose compulsory voting for the United States because I believe it will address two key problems that are currently plaguing our democracy.
The first is that if mandatory voting were to be implemented, it would mean that all of the controversial and mostly unconstitutional laws that can prohibit people from voting would have to be abolished, such as Texas’s voter identification requirements. In addition to this, voting processes would have to become more efficient and more accessible to account for the influx of new voters.
Secondly, it would solve the aforementioned problem of a lack of civic participation by citizens of the United States. And while I do realize that it could cause more uninformed voters to cast ballots than in prior elections, I believe that this is mitigated by the simplicity of the two-party electoral system of the United States. In addition, I believe that most importantly, mandatory voting could become an important entryway to increased civic participation other than voting in years to follow.
Do you agree with Henry about the need to implement mandatory voting in the United States? Is this approach of mandatory voting in elections too authoritarian for the United States or is it the only way that we as a nation can truly produce a mass turnout? Do you think there is a better approach in order to increase voter participation? Tell us how you feel and please send all of your feedback to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
