Arguments Against Obligatory Voting

American president, Rutherford Birchard Hayes, has been quoted with saying that “to vote is like a payment of a debt, a duty never to be neglected, if its performance is possible.” In a republic form of government, such as the governments of the United States, France, and Finland, the power needed for the legislation and execution of laws and regulations comes from the people. However, the number of people who actually participate in an election nowhere near matches the amount of eligible voters who do not participate in a local, state, or national election. Be that as it may, this problem can easily be alleviated by making voting, like jury duty, a requirement of every citizen. As a result, it ensures that the government being run represents

“Those who stay away from the election think that one vote will do no good: Tis but one step more to think that one vote will do no harm” is a famous quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson, American essayist and poet, on the effects of universal voting in the enrichment of political stability. For example, according to the Pew Research Center, in the United States 2014 midterm election cycle, voters aged sixty-five and older tended to vote for the Republican candidate twelve percent more often than they did for the Democratic candidate. However, if an elderly voter felt a Republican candidate would propose a cut medicare, a social program many elderly rely on, they are more willing to vote for the Democratic candidate. This means that policies of a Republican, most notably those signed by the President, are most likely to repealed by a Democratic president before the effects of a law can be accurately measured and vice versa. Some may argue that compulsory voting does not create political stability. This is not true because according to research done by the Pew Research Center, voters in the eighteen to twenty-five age group have seen a decrease in the number of votes cast. This means that the elderly voters are given a greater chance of swinging between political parties based on the short-term effects of a candidate’s policy instead of seeing the long-term results and making a more factually-based decision. Moreover, an educated and politically engaged society is feasible if and only voting, like jury duty, also becomes a civic