A friend of mine recently gave me a book to read which advocates that all citizens in the United States be required to vote. Initially, I sort of “blew off” the idea because I just can’t see such a change happening in my lifetime. In today’s political environment it would likely be portrayed as just one more “mandate” to be foisted upon the American people.
What I didn’t realize before reading the book, is that over 20 countries in the world do require their citizens to vote, probably the most prominent nation being Australia–which was also one of the first nations in the world to require a secret ballot for elections.
Australia made voting a civic duty back in 1924. It was actually the conservatives in Australia who proposed it. Conservatives had been faced with the reality that political parties supporting labor had been using a bevy of volunteer workers to get-out-the-vote. They reasoned that if everyone was required to vote, that it would reduce the competition coming from the labor sector.
Of course, it did that, but it also brought out a lot more people to the polls overall. Election Day today in Australia is deemed to be a national holiday and members of political parties also make it a national “barbecue and picnic” day where people can gather either before or after they have voted. And, what happens in Australia if you decide not to vote or don’t have a legitimate reason (like a health problem) for not voting? Answer, you are subject to a fine of about $15. The result of all of this, is that, on average, over 90% of Australians vote in their election. Compare that to the American experience where we average somewhere between 40%-60% in voter turnout.
We Americans, of course, take great pride in our “rights” as individuals as outlined in the Constitution. We are pretty good also at accepting what we call “entitlements”–think of Social Security and Medicare as an example. However, what we don’t do so well are accepting “obligations” of citizenship. We do, often reluctantly, pay our taxes which are an obligation. We also, when called upon in time of war, have accepted the draft as being an obligation of citizenship. There is also general recognition that, as citizens, we have the duty to serve on a jury if selected to do so.
So, what would make it so bad to also require people to vote? Voting is fundamental to the working of a democracy. We could even require that a person voting have a choice to select “None of the Above,” or write in a name if they don’t like any of the candidates.
One great practical advantage of universal voting, it seems to me, is that our politics would probably become less toxic. Because of low voter turn-out, we are much more susceptible to outrageous demands by both the radical right and the far-left. Because of low voter participation they can leverage their extreme views much more effectively. If politicians knew that, in the end, they would be elected by 90% or more of their fellow citizens–they would tone down their rhetoric to address the needs of the vast majority, not just the vocal minority.
What do you think? Maybe it is time to make voting a civic duty or obligation here in the United States of America. It seems to me that it could likely result in our having a stronger and more resilient democracy.
Rolland Kidder
What I didn’t realize before reading the book, is that over 20 countries in the world do require their citizens to vote, probably the most prominent nation being Australia–which was also one of the first nations in the world to require a secret ballot for elections.
Australia made voting a civic duty back in 1924. It was actually the conservatives in Australia who proposed it. Conservatives had been faced with the reality that political parties supporting labor had been using a bevy of volunteer workers to get-out-the-vote. They reasoned that if everyone was required to vote, that it would reduce the competition coming from the labor sector.
Of course, it did that, but it also brought out a lot more people to the polls overall. Election Day today in Australia is deemed to be a national holiday and members of political parties also make it a national “barbecue and picnic” day where people can gather either before or after they have voted. And, what happens in Australia if you decide not to vote or don’t have a legitimate reason (like a health problem) for not voting? Answer, you are subject to a fine of about $15. The result of all of this, is that, on average, over 90% of Australians vote in their election. Compare that to the American experience where we average somewhere between 40%-60% in voter turnout.
We Americans take great pride in our “rights” as individuals as outlined in the Constitution. What we don’t do so well are accepting “obligations” of citizenship.
We Americans, of course, take great pride in our “rights” as individuals as outlined in the Constitution. We are pretty good also at accepting what we call “entitlements”–think of Social Security and Medicare as an example. However, what we don’t do so well are accepting “obligations” of citizenship. We do, often reluctantly, pay our taxes which are an obligation. We also, when called upon in time of war, have accepted the draft as being an obligation of citizenship. There is also general recognition that, as citizens, we have the duty to serve on a jury if selected to do so.
So, what would make it so bad to also require people to vote? Voting is fundamental to the working of a democracy. We could even require that a person voting have a choice to select “None of the Above,” or write in a name if they don’t like any of the candidates.
One great practical advantage of universal voting, it seems to me, is that our politics would probably become less toxic. Because of low voter turn-out, we are much more susceptible to outrageous demands by both the radical right and the far-left. Because of low voter participation they can leverage their extreme views much more effectively. If politicians knew that, in the end, they would be elected by 90% or more of their fellow citizens–they would tone down their rhetoric to address the needs of the vast majority, not just the vocal minority.
What do you think? Maybe it is time to make voting a civic duty or obligation here in the United States of America. It seems to me that it could likely result in our having a stronger and more resilient democracy.
Rolland Kidder
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