Letter to the Editor: Voting Should Be Mandatory

Posted

The political state of America is in a mess today with two parties at war with each other and no middle ground. It is time for The United States to adopt compulsory voting. Thirty seven countries have instituted compulsory voting with a variety of enforcement options.

Australia is one of the 37 that use compulsory voting. This has resulted in politicians being unable to win elections by relying on their base to achieve success. They have found that to win elections candidates must appeal to voters whose beliefs lay neither on the left or right but in the moderate middle.

Compulsory voting can result in true democracies where all voices are heard. Instead of trying to restrict voter turnout, why aren’t we demanding that as a duty of citizenship in this great country all citizens make their voices heard?  

 



Doug Findley,

Randle