Obstacles Of Voting In The United States

With compulsory voting many countries become successful. Germany,Peru, Australia and many more countries have been required to vote since the late 1800’s to the late 1900’s (Doc A). In Brazil those who don 't vote have to pay a fine, causing many to not miss their voting slot time

VOTING (Dictionary)Voting is a formal expression of opinion or choice, either positive or negative, made by an individual or a body of individuals. All American have the right to vote when they turn the age of 18 and are considered an adult. You only hear about voting really when it comes to the election for the President of the United States or a candidate is running for a seat in a government position. The American people believe that they should vote because they think it actually matters. Then there are those American who believe that voting is a complete waste of time.

Your vote is your voice. When we vote, we are actually telling elected officials and lawmakers how we feel about education, public safety, social security, healthcare, and other important

“Can I Register to vote if I Don’t have a driver’s license?Yes. While all states require a driver’s license identification number or non-drivers ID number on the voter registration form, if you don’t have a driver’s license and have not been issued a non-driver state ID card, states will accept the last four digits of your social security number. ”(HeadCount). This shows that if someone wants to vote, they will need a

Wealth also plays a role in turnout. The wealthy regardless of education have a higher rate of voting. The poor, uneducated and the youth have shown to have less voting rates. The voting process itself has an effect on turnout. In the US voters must register to vote, this has been helped with the passage of the motor voter law or the National Voter registration Act of 1993 which allowed voters to register at state Motor Vehicle registration offices.

Some states are already moving towards mandatory voting like Oregon. Mandatory voting would produce sincerely legitimate elections. It would prevent the alleviation of the different views of our politics. If voting was mandatory, more Americans would acknowledge and pay attention to the possible selections. I think that citizens need to be educated about the importance and history of voting and how it became a right before mandatory voting becomes implemented, so that citizens would understand why it is important to vote and therefore would be more likely to vote.

There are several reasons for the low voter turnout at elections in the United States compared to the rest of the world, but the main reasons have to do with the culture. The current generation is growing up in a period of liberty, equality, and democracy. They are enjoying the fruits of uprisings done by their ancestors to secure civil rights and liberties such as voting rights. This makes it hard for them to appreciate and value their voting rights. For them it is part of their political system and they can do whatever they want with it.

The United States currently faces a severe problem with one of their governmental processes. In the democratic system of the United States, politicians are elected by voting from the citizens, in most cases. The problem the United States is facing is that people are no longer voting in elections for officials. This problem is discussed in the article, “In praise of low voter turnout”, written by Charles Krauthammer. The main idea behind this article is that voters are no longer interested in politics, as they were in previous generations.

Nevertheless, in America it’s our responsibility to vote. Voting is a way to express yourself and what your beliefs are. Your vote is your voice. Through voting you as a citizen of America get a say in who leads our country, it’s quite a big responsibility. While voting you access your freedom that so many lost their lives fighting for.

“ While compulsion of any kind is a restriction, so is the compulsion to drive only on the right side of the road.” ( “Is It Time To Consider Mandatory Voting Laws? Worsening Voting Statistics Make a Strong Case.” by John W. Dean.) One way voter turnout can increase is by compulsory (required) voting.

Most people told me that they either don’t have time or it really doesn’t matter if they vote. I could understand them being busy with school, homework and maybe a job but when I explained to them that all they had to do was register, fill out their ballot when they get it in the mail and turn it in at the drop box at highline or mail it in if they prefer, most people were surprised that it was this simple, but there were still those that kept on saying that they had a class or that they were running late probably because they didn’t want to take the three minutes to register. After a while most people got mad at me for asking them to register because someone else had just asked them like a minuet ago. I asked those people if they already registered and or plan to register and most said yes but when I checked on a couple of them in a few minutes they were still texting or watching a video on their phone.

Democracy is a foundation of a country’s success. The idea of mandatory voting goes against the democracy of the United States. Mandatory voting is a violation to our civil rights and will become a law in the United States. Although many people believe that mandatory voting helps to strengthen a democratic government by making more voters participate in political process. However, mandatory voting violates the democratic United States by restricting people’s rights.

The United States is known to be the land of the free, home of the brave - where citizens over the age of eighteen are allowed to express their opinion every four years in the month of November. It is a right known as universal suffrage — letting everyone vote — which defines the United States as a democracy. Unfortunately, some citizens take this hard earned right for granted and decide to not register to vote, which is allowed in our country but is something every American should take part in. Though voting is not a requirement for the American citizen, all citizens should practice this democratic tradition because voting allows the people to have a say in who or what represents them, the fact that every vote counts, and to put it simply, voting may not be mandatory but it is a right that many few people in the world have.

Fourthly, the frequency and number of elections in the US has been indicated to be twice as much compared to many western countries. With the various separate elections in multiple levels, voters may choose to skip some of them and participate in others (McDonald, 2011). Finally, the development of democracy and level of civic education have affected the number of people who cast votes (Ezrow & Xezonakis, 2014). It is prudent to postulate that some individuals lack the feeling that their individual votes can change outcomes in the elections and they therefore do not vote. The recommendations to increase the voter turn-out, the registration process should be streamlined.

Finally, as results have shown it is often difficult or even not worth enforcing. Causing either dishonesty or the entire system to be thrown out the window. Is it truly worth all this time and money to attempt an idea that might blow up in the American people face strictly to help people who are too lazy to head out to the polls? Is it truly that impossible to head out one day for less than an hour, check some names and propositions on a paper and leave? People need to head out to the poll, people need to fix the American system, but that all starts with the American citizen.