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Low Voter Turnout In America

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Low Voter Turnout In America
Voter turnout by definition is the measurement of qualified voters who cast a ballot during the time of an election. Without citizen contribution, democracy is meaningless. Some may like to declare America as the inventor of democracy and that our democracy is the most remarkable on Earth. While our democratic system may be remarkable, it still contains and houses many serious flaws. One of these major flaws being low voter turnout. As defined by centuries of trial and error, public participation, chiefly in terms of voting in the representative democracy of the United States, is crucial to the lasting success of a democratic system. This is due to the influence of democracy being originated from the people. Consequently, if an insignificant amount of people choose to contribute in the electoral process by voting, as was the case in the recent major elections, our primary democratic ideologies will abate because power is no longer being accurately stemmed from the …show more content…
As a result of this, as well as the chances of voter turnout becoming gradually worse in future elections, I suggest that the United States implement a mandatory voting method. An example of this particular system is Australia where everyone is required to vote by law and a moderate fine is in place for anyone who is eligible to vote but fails to do so (Solotaroff-Webber par 3). While this notion may appear to be anti-democratic superficially, it is essential to note that while all citizens are obligated to cast a ballot, they are not forced to choose a candidate. Before compulsory laws were put into effect, voter turnout hovered around 47% but in present day voter turnout in Australia is usually between 94%-96% (Asia Pacific par. 3). I support the practice of compulsory voting in the United States because I think it will address many major obstacles that are currently troubling our
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