Compulsory Voting

Your weekly excerpt from one of my books. This week: "The Hidden History of the War on Voting"

The Republican War against your right to vote. Over the next few months the entire book will be here, new chapters posted every Sunday, for subscribers to read at no cost. If you want to get a physical book to mark up or share with others, just click on the picture above, visit your local bookstore, or check your favorite online seller.

Compulsory Voting

Voting is mandatory in Australia and Belgium—so why not here?

Many people would loudly proclaim that compulsory voting is an anti-democratic idea, but it seems unlikely that anyone would argue that Australia and Belgium are dictatorships because they fine people who don’t vote. The $20 fine is high enough to make it worthwhile for voters to participate but low enough that it is unlikely to bankrupt someone or be burdensome to enforce.

Australia implemented compulsory voting in 1924; the voter turnout in Australia has never been lower than 91 percent.

Emilee Chapman, a political scientist at Stanford University, describes the simple logic behind compulsory voting: “It really offers this society-wide message: There is no such thing as a political class in a democracy. Voting is something that is for everybody, including and especially people at the margins of society.”36

While compulsory voting will probably never pass in America, there are ways to encourage people to vote that are legal and would probably withstand a constitutional challenge, from the persuasive (nationally funded campaigns like those done to promote savings bonds and victory gardens during World War II) to the direct (tax deductions available only to voters). It’s a great companion discussion to the national debate about automatic voter registration.

We have compulsory jury duty, draft registration, and taxes. Voting is part of being a citizen, the price we pay for living in a democracy.