By Franny S. 

There is a big difference between the US and Australian voting systems. During the 2022 presidential election, which is the election that gets the most votes, Australia had seventy-six percent voting, and the US had sixty-two percent voting. With a whopping fourteen percent more people voting in Australia than the US, there are a few reasons why there were more people voting in Australia than America.

One reason Australia got more votes during the 2022 presidential election was because the voting happens on Saturdays, where it is the weekend and there are probably not many plans for the weekend. There are polling booths that are all across Australia that sell “Democratic Sausages”. The voting may be mandatory, but voting isn’t that hard, and afterward, you get to hang out with other people. 

One of the reasons why turnout is so low in the US is because there are many young people from ages eighteen to twenty-four that don’t find the politics and the educational opportunities very interesting. The amount of people voting during the midterm elections is even lower. This is true for the last century.

There is a lot more voting in Australia than in the U.S.. In Australia, voting is easier and celebrated as a fun thing to do. Maybe the U.S. has a few lessons to learn from Australia.