May/June Beginners Debate Tournament: Voting should be mandatory

I) MV undermines liberty and democracy Restrictions on liberty should be limited to things that infringe/undermine the rights of others. The Constitution of the United States grants specific powers to the federal government and The Bill of Rights therein contains certain rights that the federal government is obligated to defend. The first amendment states "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press". (1) By forcing someone to voice something they would not otherwise voice, we would be abridging their freedom of speech. This also forces individuals to, at times, violate their conscience. In the 2016 presidential election, 1 in 4 people disliked both major party candidates. (2) Many of these voted 3rd party but many also felt that no presidential candidate was worthy of their vote. In this type of situation it is wrong to force someone to exercise their democratic voice to support a candidate they do not approve of. II) MV doesn't incentivise political learning Forcing people to make a decision is not equivalent to ensuring they make that decision intelligently. Many people choose not to educate themselves on political matters because they view such things as unimportant to them or uninteresting and an effective way to address this would be to address the root cause. Rather than compelling people to draw political conclusions (this provides no incentive for actual political learning) we should be educating them on how specific laws will affect their lives. There are many ways to do this and doing so would increase voter turnout and would do so voluntarily. The other issue that mandatory voting would exacerbate is that of political misinformation which is extremely high. Nearly 1 in 3 Americans believe President Obama is a Muslim. (3) This is one example of the alarmingly inaccurate "news" being propagated on social media platforms as well as seemingly credible media sources. This effect manifests itself clearly as only 40% of the American public trust of media to report "the news fully, accurately, and fairly". (4) Those who are most vulnerable to misinformation and biased reporting are those who study politics least thoroughly which would undoubtedly be those who currently pay the least attention. Mandatory voting undermines the integrity of our elections by forcing the politically ignorant to vote on things that they don't know much about. III) MV doesn't lead to better representation for those most affected We should not force individuals to vote for things that they feel don't affect them. Allow me to illustrate this point with a a personal example. In my city, a special election was held that proposed a couple measures that I felt did not apply to me in the slightest. For instance, there was a measure that would increase a city tax on gas in order to provide additional funds to the school system. I did not grow up in this city and I will be leaving it in a few months. I have no investment in their school system and the tax would barely affect me because I usually buy gas on my commute to a nearby town. I believe in the importance of voting (and did so in my county, state, and general elections) but when the law doesn't pertain to me I would rather allow those who are affected offer their more knowledgeable and personally invested voice. This allows those whose voice truly matters in that city to govern that city more effectively. Those that are apathetic are more likely to vote strictly on what is claimed without verifying the claims of the potential representative or law. Therefore, forcing those who lack incentive to verify claims would undoubtedly lead to increased pandering and decreased political honesty rather than actually effective policy. This undermines the integrity of our elections and does not bolster representation. IV) MV punishes the lower class Analysts and sociologists agree that socioeconomic success is linked with higher voting turnout. According to Loretta E. Bass and Lynne M. Casper, "Previous research shows that 'citizens of higher social and economic status participate more in politics. This generalization...holds true whether one uses level of education, income, or occupation as the measure of social status'... those with higher stakes in society are the most likely to go to the polls -- older individuals, homeowners, and married couples." (5) This means that those affected most by mandatory voting laws will be those of lower social and economic status. Of those that didn't vote in the 2016 US presidential election, about 1 in 3 said they couldn't afford to or couldn't get the day off work. (6) Most nations and provinces that implement mandatory voting laws rely on heavy fines to incentivise voting which would clearly be devastating to minorities, younger individuals, and those in poverty. Once again we see that instead of incentivising voter turnout and addressing root causes of low voter turnout, mandatory voting discriminates, punishes, and threatens the lives and economic well-being of the most vulnerable members of society. In conclusion, democracy should never be wielded as justification to force the disadvantaged to act against their will under duress even if some may believe it to be 'for their own good'. Mandatory voting undermines liberty and democracy by unnecessarily restricting freedoms guaranteed them in the constitution. Mandatory voting also undermines elections by failing to address the root causes of low turnout such as political dissatisfaction, political ignorance, and political apathy. 1) https://usconstitution.net... 2) http://www.gallup.com... 3) https://www.washingtonpost.com... 4) http://www.gallup.com... 5) https://www.census.gov... 6) http://m.huffpost.com...