Voting in the USA, we all HAVE to vote in Australia why don't all Americans enrol to vote?

Question

You make think this a huge job, but over in Australia, we just all go to our local school etc etc to vote, why isn't compulsory voting in the USA? Do you vote? and if you choose not to, why not, I think if you don't have a 'say' then you can't really try and change anything.

Big Kisses and Huge Hugs to all those who are being flooded in the US at the moment, seen it on the news over here, I wish you all the best wishes in the world. oxoxo

Answer 1

Everyone has the right to vote here in America - 18 and over.  It doesn't matter your race, background, religion, or financial sources.  Now, incarcerated criminals cannot vote due to obvious reasons (voting for legislation for example), but all other adults can.  We even have it set up to be able to vote ahead of time, mail in, and proxy.  There is really no reason NOT to vote other than just not wanting to.  Which is sad since so many in America have fought to have the right to vote (women and blacks) and statistically those are the ones choosing not to now.

Answer 2

Why force the uninformed and apathetic to vote? How does that help democracy? I am glad to see apathetic losers stay home -- it makes my vote count even more!

There is also that whole "liberty" thing that the subjects (and I do mean that term) of the Commonwealth seem to have forgotten.

Excuse me while I clean my guns. I love my Second Amendment rights. I sleep much better here than I would in Australia.

Answer 3

Because in America we offer each citizen the amount of say that they are willing to expend at least minimal effort for.

I encourage everybody to vote - but I also allow others the right not to vote.

Remember that compulsory voting is how Saddam remained in power.

Answer 4

So many Americans think their voice is unheard and voting is a waste of time. Look at how the present President got into office, his opponent had the popular vote and the votes that would have cinched his victory were not counted in Florida. A stacked deck of Republican Judges in the Supreme court appointed Bush. Yeah, I see their point. Americans are kept divided for a purpose. Our Government doesn't want all of us on the same page because there is power in numbers and that scares the h**l out of our self serving politicians.

Answer 5

In your country, since everybody has to vote, those who have no desire to follow politics must also cast votes for candidates and issues.  When mass amounts of people who don't care vote, they may simply vote for the first person to appear on the ballot, or simply by name recognition.  This can be bad for the country.

In the U.S., those who pay attention to politics, even if not very closely, choose to exercise their supreme rights.  Those who have no desire to follow politics are not required to place an ill-informed vote, which in my opinion ius even more dangerous than not voting at all.

It is unfortunate that so many people in my country fail to see exactly how important it is to vote, but at least their hand won't be forced to check a box next to either Candidate A or B.

And above all else, our country was founded on self-governance and freedom.  Choosing not to vote is just another exercise of freedom.

Answer 6

Well because most Americans are rightly dissillusioned with politics in our country. I say they should vote 3rd party, but I think it is wrong to mandate that they must vote.

Your ideas about it being about who raises the most money is correct.

Answer 7

Compulsary voting?  Hmmm...  Sounds like an interesting concept.

What if you can't morally justify voting for someone though?  Maybe all the choices are just too wrong.

What happens if you don't vote?

Answer 8

Not only don't they have compulsory voting in the US, but there is also no preferential voting.  If you don't vote Republican or Democrat, you might as well throw your ballet paper in the bin.

I think it's a case of just enough democracy to make the people feel empowered (and their education system teaches them that democracy empowers them).  Too much democracy would limit the power of the ruling class.

Answer 9

I'd rather not have indifferent Americans vote, if they don't care, why should our political system be affected by them

Answer 10

It's the way we do it.

If you ever tried to even suggest compulsory voting, lots of folks would start screaming. Politically, it's not a viable option.

When our country was founded, voting was limited to the landed aristocratic males.

Even then, the constitution establishes an electoral college to make sure that voting for the president is done by responsible overseers, not just the people.

And we recently saw how well that worked, when the candidate chosen by the most votes did not get the office of president, and the putative winner turned out to be an utter cypher.

Answer 11

well, in the US, voting is strongly encouraged. However, we Americans also love our freedom to choose what we want to do.  Most Americans favor less governement intervention in their lives, incidentally.

Voting may be a good thing, but is it really so great that your govt. would force you to whether you agree or not? Sorry, but on these issues, I default to one's personal freedom to choose.

Answer 12

All of our citizens have the RIGHT to vote.

Not everyone chooses to exercise that RIGHT.

As part of the right to vote, we also have the RESPONSIBILITY to educate ourselves about the candidates/issues. Not everyone wants to take the time to do that.

Answer 13

Americans like to place restrictions on who can vote so certain people don't get too uppity. We've had poll taxes and now it's ID cards. We feel if certain groups get power it will be bad for some people.

I vote and have every chance I've gotten.

Answer 14

certain ppl try to keep certain classes from voting so they push the right not to vote. plus we have other ppl vote for us anyway so we are not truley a democracy but a republic

Answer 15

It's not compulsory to vote here in Australia, just compulsory to turn up to get your name crossed of the list. You can just put an empty voting paper in the box & leave.

The U.S have it right .Most people here have no idea who or what they are voting for. It should be left to the people who really care

Answer 16

Voting for many Americans is a personal thing. If I vote for someone I want to feel good about it, I want to be able to defend that candidate in conversation. In the next presidential election, many of us Americans are displeased with the choices before us. I want the freedom to not vote if I don't feel inspired by any of the candidates. I don't want to vote for someone because the government has forced me to vote. It seems anti-democratic to force people to vote.