Mandatory Voting in America
POS 2041 Valencia College
Should American citizens be required to vote?
Mandatory voting as a political practice has far many negative impacts on the
democracy of a people and the voters' rights. It is an essential exercise to a state
and government because it ensures that voter-turnout increases; it equally enables
all the people to participate in the elections, thus making their views and interests to
be taken into consideration (William, 2011). Besides, mandatory voting makes voting
a civic duty of the citizens who vote to strengthen their democracy. However,
compulsory voting presents a polarized state with fractured structure of democracy
and undermines Americans' rights in heightened ways. Solari argues that mandatory
voting ends up with widespread inequality of representation and that leadership
influence is not evenly distributed but biased in favor of more privileged citizens
(Solari, 2008). Ideally, those with better education, higher incomes, and more
incredible wealth participate in the voting process, leaving less advantaged citizens
with no voice through the democratic vote. In dealing with such inequalities,
American citizens should be required to vote.
I stand on the position that compulsory voting is fundamental and a policy that
needs to be embraced because it may eliminate inequality. Mandatory voting is
beneficial because it enhances voter turnout, equalizes participation, and removes
bias against less advantaged citizens. Solari stipulates that if by law, nearly
everyone in a particular election zone is forced to vote, then the socio-economic
inequalities will diminish because a larger fraction of the population will have an
