Mandatory Voting Should Be Required

Imagine getting the freedom to vote and then it turns into not a freedom, but a requirement. How would this affect you? In 1994, South Africa became a full democracy, people stood in line for more than eight hours in order to vote. Other democracies around the world such as Australia and Peru deal with the problem of low, voter turnout so they have a requirement to vote. Should Americans be required to vote? Voting shouldn’t be required if we have the same government system we have today, because of potential penalties of not voting, increasing the number of uninformed voters, and letting ignorance take rein. The first reason to not have mandatory voting is the added causes for police and authority to penalize citizens. “Most penalties for non voters in mandatory voting nations are money fines, limits to certain rights & government services, and social penalties. The majority of the world doesn 't have mandatory voting. (Document A)”By transforming a freedom into a law, you are creating an opportunity to have more cause for incarceration and contact with police forces. If mandatory voting is placed on our current government system in the U.S., then individuals who don 't have the ability to vote will have more placed upon them and easily break laws, just because of their societal status. The

‘“Just vote” doesn’t express civic virtue; it’s sentimentality. It is reasonable to urge your neighbors to be informed about issues that affect your community. But it is irresponsible to encourage the unaware to put ignorance into action so aimlessly. (Document G)’ Even though voter turnout would increase dramatically, it doesn’t necessarily mean that all the voters know what each candidate stand for. Also, it can encourage voters to just blindly vote for the party they identify