As many of you know, I participated in debate all throughout high school. I loved it. Debate not only honed many skills that I still rely upon today, but also exposed me to a variety of topics and helped me formulate some of my core beliefs. I also enjoyed being forced to debate both sides of a topic because it leads to a more informed personal opinion and you gain appreciation for all of the arguments. However, I have to say, I would have struggled debating the affirmative for the current Sept/Oct resolution: In a democracy, voting ought to be compulsory. I think mandatory voting is a terrible idea. Here’s why:

First, compulsory voting is completely antithetical to democracy. One of the greatest things about our country is the freedom to pursue our interests and rights. No one has to exercise them if they don’t choose to do so. I hate the idea that someone would be “punished” if they choose not to exercise a right. What makes voting “compulsory” in other countries is the enforcement of a penalty if someone fails to vote (ranging from a $20 dollar fine in Australia to garnishment of 3 months of wages in Bolivia). Furthermore, this punishes people who are unable to vote due to legitimate reasons. The Washington Post reported on November 5, 2012 that in the 2008 election, of those people who were registered but did not vote, 17.6% were too busy and could not spare time to physically travel to the polling place, 14.9% had an illness or disability that prevented them from voting, 6% said they were unable to register, and 5.3% said they had no means of transportation to the polling place. Mandatory voting resolves none of these issues.

Second, compulsory voting ignores the underlying reasons for low voter turnout in the US. In that same Washington Post article, 26.4% of registered voters did not vote in the 2008 election because they were “not interested or did not like the candidates.” Preliminary results from the 2012 election indicate a similar trend. Polls show that Americans are disinterested because they feel candidates focus on party rhetoric and obscure issues instead of things that matter like poverty, basic services, and the economy. And there isn’t a variety of choice. When someone chooses not to vote it isn’t necessarily because they don’t care, it can be because they feel disengaged and frustrated with the current system and that there vote will not matter (See Sarah Birch in Full Participation: A Comparative Study of Compulsory Voting, 2009). In effect, their lack of vote is an abstention and a statement of disagreement.

Third, compulsory voting is way too overbroad a remedy for just increasing voter turnout. At best, compulsory voting increases turnout – which I will grant based on empirical studies and statistics from other countries, but doesn’t fix any other problems associated with US elections. Instituting a system that makes voting compulsory would be expensive and require a lot of resources (especially for the enforcement part) that should be directed several other places. If the US wants to fix issues of turnout in elections, there are so many other solutions that actually address the problems and don’t harm freedom of choice: making registration for individuals easier (including mail registration reform), holding elections on a national holiday every year (so no one has to take off work to go vote), campaign finance reform, and electoral reform (streamlining the election process, increasing efficiency of polling booths, etc).

I’ve been very clear about what I think. Do you think there are any advantages to compulsory voting that might outweigh what I’ve discussed? How would you feel if the US instituted mandatory voting?