“ Nobody will ever
deprive the American people of the right to vote except the American people
themselves and the only way they could do this is by not voting.”
~ Franklin D. Roosevelt
The paradoxical nature of humans is
to counteract what is set in motion. Especially at a heavily populated area
such as in Vancouver, British Columbia, we frequently hear people complain the
basis of our society such as taxes or how bad the healthcare or transportation
are. Through further examining our society, it is evident that the root of
these comments is due to a lack of participation in in politics. Over the
years, the overall participation factor in voting has declined at alarming
rates. Fewer and fewer citizens take notice of politics, let alone, casting
their votes. For this reason, the proposal of incorporating the notion of
compulsory voting is an impacting topic discussed by many people. Since the
Western civilization has a foundation of democracy, the government is
maintained and stabilized only through the votes of the citizens. Therefore,
the issue that is brought upon us today is whether compulsory voting should be
enforced or not.
In order to ensure that the country
remains stabilized and truly democratic, compulsory voting must be enforced from
the most rational point so that the needs of the general citizens are met. Rather
than jeopardizing our government, compulsory voting can heighten the level of
transparency between the government and the citizens. The necessity of voting would
encourage every capable voter to research candidates’ political positions more
thoroughly and understand the motives behind each party. By enforcing the
citizen’s participation, candidates can appeal to the general audience rather
than a small section of the community at a time; hence, it will allow
candidates to concentrate on their own business rather than consuming time in
appealing to people. Also, this setup will make it more difficult for extremist
or special interest groups to vote themselves into power. In other words,
compulsory voting also acts as a safeguard that protects our government. Since
citizens apply other civic duties such as paying taxes, attending school, jury
duties, all of these obligations require far more time and effort than voting;
thus, compulsory voting can be seen as constituting a much smaller intrusion of
freedom than many other obligations.
On the other hand, this act of
requiring citizens to vote can deteriorate the definition of a free country. Since
Canada is a country composed of many different people with different
backgrounds, not all views are the same. There are a decent percentage of
people who have interest in politics, and others simply do not. There is a lack
of interest in parties as well as candidates; hence, it may alter the voting as
demonstrated in a “donkey vote” or informal vote. Thus, by implying compulsory
voting, no improvements may be reached, but rather, deteriorate the current
system. In Canada, voting is a privilege is it not? If so, then the notion of compulsory
voting can be viewed as a violation of Human Rights and Freedoms. Under article
19, it is clearly stated that everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and
expression; this right includes “freedom to hold opinions without interference.”
To a certain degree, compulsory voting implies a forceful obligation and threatens
the citizens to do something against their will. Not only is this contradictory
to Canada’s foundation of “freedoms,” but it also demonstrates a lack of
Canadian identity; therefore, threatens Canada’s sovereignty.
In conclusion, compulsory voting
clearly has equal pros and cons and makes a difficult decision for Canadians to
make. The most pressing benefit of required voting that I find is that it
achieves transparency in a sense that it connects the overall population to
their governments more. However, I also feel violated if it goes against my
freedom not to vote. I think that the reason of lack of participation is due to a high rate of immigrants to Canada. These immigrants come to this country without respecting our culture of voting, hence it also alters our voting procedures. For this reason, I think only through voting can we improve voting. However, with this said, personally, I would not like to see compulsory voting set
in place, but rather, encourage everyone to vote, and providing a “none of the
above” check box. I believe this would be fair because it voices every citizen’s
opinion, as well as touch up on the notion of compulsory voting. Similar to
what Roosevelt once said, I believe the solution I proposed is the best
solution; a solution that is already being promoted.
Notes and Links:
http://www.ipolitics.ca/2012/08/21/don-lenihan-why-compulsory-voting-wont-fix-falling-voter-turnout/
- http://www.canada.com/life/Statistics+Canada+survey+highlights+immigration+religion+shift/8354086/
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