Crispin Morales works 12-hour days in a factory in Bolivia and has little money. He works every day but Sunday. The last presidential election fell on a Saturday. Although he was given the day off as the law required, Crispin was unable to get to a polling station to vote. (Later, he was glad to hear that his candidate, Evo Morales, won the 2006 election with over 50 percent of the popular vote.) Because voting is mandatory in Bolivia, those who do not vote are punished for not complying with their civic duty. Crispin was not allowed to withdraw his salary from his bank for over two months. 

Not all countries with this kind of compulsory voting enforce any punishment. If a citizen of Australia or Brazil provides a good reason for not voting (e.g. being in a hospital), it is accepted. Many nations have dropped mandatory voting altogether. For example, Venezuela discontinued mandatory voting in 1993 and saw a 30% decline in attendance at the polls. 

Low voter turnout is a common problem in countries without compulsory voting. Of 245 million eligible voters, only 155 million cast their votes in the 2024 U.S. presidential election. The Pew Research Center polled people eligible to vote who did not vote in 2024. About a third of those polled answered that they did not vote because they do not like politics. Another 35 percent said they did not vote because they did not think their vote would make a difference. Low voter turnout might also be explained by voter apathy. Seventeen percent of people reported that a major reason for not voting was because they did not care about the outcome. Some people evidently feel that voting will not make a difference to their lives. 

Mandatory voting seems attractive, but it can be misused. In dictatorships, citizens are often forced to vote, but often don’t have a choice for who they vote for. The same person is elected every time because the government does not allow other candidates to run for the same position. In March 2014, 99% of North Korea cast votes, all for Kim Jong Un. 

But how can democracies have representative governments unless all or most of their citizens vote? Some say the reason to force people to vote is to make sure that the elected government represents the majority of the population. But those against compulsory voting say that being required to vote is a violation of personal liberties. Others say that voting should be seen as a civic right and not a civic duty. 

What do you think? Should all Americans be required to vote? Or should voting be voluntary?