Rethinking Voting and Political Participation

Voting in elections is a hallmark of any democracy, yet the “Land of the Free” is taking its freedoms for granted year after year. We fail to realize how much of a privilege it is to have free voting combined with the freedom of the press. This combination allows voters to receive the information they need to make a well educated vote on a multitude of issues. The problem arises when people choose not to take advantage of these freedoms, either voting without being well informed or simply not voting at all. So how do we fix the lack of informed voting and lack or voting period? I think there is three things we can do. Firstly, establish some arbitrary guidelines for what constitutes an informed voter. Secondly, candidly explain to people why voting is important and what your vote entails. Thirdly, explore the implementation of a compulsory voting system and make election day a national holiday.

To explain my first point, I want to answer a question posed in the podcast “Demons of Democracy”, which reads, “It’s true that most voters don’t know basic knowledge about US Politics (indeed, most could not pass a citizenship test). What kind of knowledge should a person know to be a responsible voter?” I would respond with in order to be a responsible voter, I think there are two things people need to know. Firstly, if you are a registered Democrat or Republican, know the very basic ideology of your party. If you are registered as a Republican, know that they are in favor of lower taxes, a stronger military and are typically anti-abortion. If you are registered as a Democrat, know that they prefer higher taxes, less military spending and are primarily pro-abortion. If you are registered as an Independent, try to learn the basics of both parties. The reason I think knowing the basics of your party constitutes a responsible voter is because knowing basic party agendas can help voters gauge what the consequences and outcomes of voting for that party entail. Knowing goals of parties should help prevent people voting for a candidate frivolously and make them aware of what type of legislation will be passed with that party in power. Secondly, I think voters should have a decent grasp on the three branches of government, so they are aware of what they are voting for. Voters should know what their representatives’ job is, how much power the President has and what the role of the Supreme Court is. I believe knowing agendas of the parties and the roles of the branches constitutes an educated voter, as this knowledge lets them know what things they are voting for, and what the people they vote for are tasked to do.  

Secondly, not only do we need more educated voters, we need more voters period. Personally, I think it would be great if every eligible voter made their opinions known in elections. We saw after the 2016 election that many people were outraged that Trump was elected, yet less than half of eligible voters actually participated in the election process. I believe that mandatory civics or government classes in middle school and high school could potentially be a solution to uneducated voters and lack of voters, which are issues worth investing in because the more people that make educated votes, the better tailored the government is to the citizens. I also think the government should be spending more on resources to let voters know where their polling station is, when election day is and what issues voters should consider. I believe an effective TV and print campaign could provide a solution to low turnout.  

Thirdly, the government should be incentivizing voting to citizens. I think we should explore the potential of implementing a compulsory voting system. Australia has compulsory voting in place since the 1920s and their voting turnout has been consistently above 90%. Citizens over 18 are required to vote in elections, and those who do not are fined around $20. Dr. Chapman, a political scientist at Stanford says on the matter, “The idea of compulsory voting is that it conveys the idea that each person’s voice is expected and valued.” (Stanford News). This idea may be met with backlash, but I think it is actually a great idea to improve voter turnout. Secondly, Elections should be considered a holiday. It is worth the economic loss of giving workers a day off to ensure they can make it to a polling station, as the voices of the people should take priority over any potential profits. I think the measures in the post, if taken, would drastically improve our democracy and should be considered. 

The Demons of Democracy. 2019. Hi-Phi Nation Podcast. Season 3, Episode 5

Garcia Bedolla. 2006. “Rethinking Citizenship: Noncitizen Voting and Immigrant Political Engagement.”

Stanford University. “The Case for Mandatory Voting.” Stanford News, 29 Nov. 2018, news.stanford.edu/2018/11/30/case-mandatory-voting/.