Mandatory Voting in the U.S.

This opinion is from William A. Galston, a senior fellow at the Bookings Institution.

Jury duty is mandatory, why not voting?

Thirty-one countries have some form of mandatory voting according to the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance. The list includes nine members of the Organization for Economics Cooperation and Development and two- thirds of the Latin American nations. More than half back up the legal requirement with an enforcement mechanism, while the rest are content to rely on the moral force of the law.

Proponents offer three reasons for mandatory voting:

- A democracy can't be strong if its citizenship is weak. American citizenship is strong on rights and weak on responsibilities. Requiring people to vote would re-inforce the principle of reciprocity at the heart of citizenship.

- A democracy would take into account the interests and views of all citizens. But if some regularly vote while others don't, officials will give greater weight to participants. Mandatory voting would tend to even out disparities stemming from income, education, and age, enhancing our system's inclusiveness.

- Low turnout rates pushes American politics toward increased polarization. Hard-core partisans are more likely to dominate lower turnout elections, while those who are less fervent about specific issues and less attached to political organizations tend not to participate at levels proportional to their share of the electorate.

My next door neighbor is from Brazil and when you turn 65, voting becomes optional.

Next week we vote in NY and in my district there is five judgeships on the ballot. But there are only 5 democrats running unopposed. If there is no contest I would expect there would be no fine.









NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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