The government of the United States of America provides its citizens a democratic right to choose the most suitable administration, and “one of the most basic ways to engage with government as an individual is to vote” (Krutz & Waskiewicz, 2022). I believe compulsory voting should not be reinforced in the United States, as it would restrict religious and personal freedom. Additionally, it would harm the way voters and politicians conduct elections. Voting by mandate would encourage an uneducated electorate. Millions more ballots would be cast by those who have not better informed themselves about the parties and the problems if more uninformed people were forced to vote. The freedom not to vote is also a part of every American’s right to vote. Respecting a person’s right to make their own decisions is one of the fundamental components of democracy. Making voting compulsory would violate the right of individuals not to vote. The effect would be considerably more pronounced if not voting or refusing to participate against the law. Some claim that it would be illegal to penalize someone for choosing not to vote because “there is no such thing as not voting. Not voting is voting” (Liu, 2016). Therefore, expressing one’s opinions without the necessary infringement of casting ballots is possible. If not voting became a crime, enforcing it would take incredible finances. One reason is that it would take a long time to eliminate the names and addresses of voters who opted not to do so. The next important step would be to find them and issue a fine. Then there would be the issue of collecting the penalties, which, as a result, will be an inefficient, time-consuming proposition with little to no benefits. Although some claim that mandatory voting will push people to become more informed about the issues, it would probably have the opposite impact. Mandate voting would make uninformed voters more indifferent and likely to cast a random, wasted vote.
References
Krutz, G. & Waskiewicz, S. (2022). American Government 3e. Web.
Liu, E. (2016). There’s no such thing as not voting | Eric Liu [Video]. YouTube. Web.