The idea of mandatory voting system is widely debated, with many people claiming that forcing people to vote does not appear to be rational at all in a democratic environment. However, I do not entirely accept this and I will explain why in this essay.
There are a myriad of arguments in favour of compulsory voting. The most conspicuous one is that in order to get an authentic reflection of people’s perception on an election, each and every adult has to exercise their suffrage. Not only does it enable the citizens of a country to choose the right leaders they want to see in the government, but it also ensures that the country does not select the leaders who are not honest, sincere, dedicated and accountable. This is because the majority of population cannot be unanimous in choosing wrong leaders. Needless to say, all these benefits stand the country in good stead, when it comes to good governance and efficacious management.
Another pivotal aspect of compulsory voting is that if people have freedom not to vote, many people will not feel any pressure to exercise this democratic right. For example, unlike countries such as Bangladesh and India, which do not force people to vote and so, the turnout of voters is very low, countries with stringent penalties for not voting such as Australia usually have higher turnouts, thus making the election a fairer one. Hence, it is apparent why many are against offering any leeway to voters for the sake of democracy.
In view of the arguments outlined above, one can conclude that the benefits of compulsory voting are indeed too great to ignore.
Thanks for reading my article. If you enjoyed this post please Resteem, Upvote, and Follow me 