February 14, 2020

Should It Be Illegal to Sit Out an Election?

In the name of “strengthening our democracy,” a Massachusetts legislator named Dylan Fernandes has introduced a bill to force Bay State citizens to vote in November general elections, whether they want to or not.

In the name of “strengthening our democracy,” a Massachusetts legislator named Dylan Fernandes has introduced a bill to force Bay State citizens to vote in November general elections, whether they want to or not. In California, assemblyman Marc Levine goes even further: Declaring that “democracy is not a spectator sport,” he has submitted legislation to strong-arm Californians into taking part in every election, including local and primary contests.

Their goal is to make democracy better, but their results would make it worse.

Presumably, Fernandes and Dylan would not describe their respective bills in this fashion. But if their bills to make voting mandatory become law, Massachusetts and California citizens would lose their freedom to cast a ballot, and would be saddled instead with an obligation to do so. (In fact, Fernandes specifies that a Massachusetts resident who fails to vote is to be punished with a tax surcharge.)

Like all rights, the right to vote is inseparable from personal autonomy. Under the Constitution, you are free to own a weapon, to believe in God, to write a book, to run for office — and therefore, by definition, you are free not to do those things. Voting is no different. Your liberty to participate in an election encompasses your liberty to ignore that election. Voting is a legal right, not a legal duty. A law that makes your vote compulsory is a law that robs you of that right.

Fernandes and Dylan are not the first to suggest that it be illegal to sit out an election. On at least two occasions, President Barack Obama suggested that adopting compulsory voting in the United States would be “transformative” because it would “make people feel more invested” in the political system. In a nationwide Canadian survey last fall, 62 percent of respondents expressed support for mandatory voting. In a number of countries, voting is already obligatory and, in some of them, nonvoters are heavily penalized. In Brazil, for instance, those who skip an election are barred from government jobs and public housing, and cannot get a passport.

Not surprisingly, voting rates are considerably higher in countries where voting isn’t optional: More people will do just about anything if the government punishes them for not doing it. Advocates of compulsory voting may regard such coercion as less than ideal, but they regard the benefits of higher turnout levels as well worth the loss of freedom.

“If the United States had mandatory voting,” wrote economist Dambisa Moyo in a New York Times column last October, “there likely would be a greater turnout among lower-income groups and minorities, which could lead to a change in the types of politicians elected.”

Maybe so. But can democracy really be enhanced by forcing ballots from unwilling voters?

Voting in America has never been easier, after all. From automatic voter registration to polling places that stay open for weeks to voting by mail, virtually anyone who wants to vote in this country is able to with little or no trouble. By a wide margin, people who don’t vote don’t wish to vote. The data consistently show that people who skip elections do so largely because they aren’t interested in the election or don’t like the candidates. Many are convinced, with reason, that their vote won’t matter anyway. There is nothing wrong with not caring about politics, or with having better things to do than vote. The thought may be blasphemous to those who worship at the altar of voter turnout, but not voting is a legitimate and often reasonable choice. That choice ought to be respected, not derided or punished by law.

The late Charles Krauthammer once defined a liberal, in jest, as someone who doesn’t care what you do as long as it’s mandatory. There could hardly be a clearer example of that mindset than the idea that people should be forced to vote. Nor could there be a more counterproductive insult to America’s democratic traditions. A ballot marked under duress is a vote not for democracy, but against it.

(Jeff Jacoby is a columnist for The Boston Globe).

Who We Are

The Patriot Post is a highly acclaimed weekday digest of news analysis, policy and opinion written from the heartland — as opposed to the MSM’s ubiquitous Beltway echo chambers — for grassroots leaders nationwide. More

What We Offer

On the Web

We provide solid conservative perspective on the most important issues, including analysis, opinion columns, headline summaries, memes, cartoons and much more.

Via Email

Choose our full-length Digest or our quick-reading Snapshot for a summary of important news. We also offer Cartoons & Memes on Monday and Alexander’s column on Wednesday.

Our Mission

The Patriot Post is steadfast in our mission to extend the endowment of Liberty to the next generation by advocating for individual rights and responsibilities, supporting the restoration of constitutional limits on government and the judiciary, and promoting free enterprise, national defense and traditional American values. We are a rock-solid conservative touchstone for the expanding ranks of grassroots Americans Patriots from all walks of life. Our mission and operation budgets are not financed by any political or special interest groups, and to protect our editorial integrity, we accept no advertising. We are sustained solely by you. Please support The Patriot Fund today!


The Patriot Post and Patriot Foundation Trust, in keeping with our Military Mission of Service to our uniformed service members and veterans, are proud to support and promote the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, both the Honoring the Sacrifice and Warrior Freedom Service Dogs aiding wounded veterans, the National Veterans Entrepreneurship Program, the Folds of Honor outreach, and Officer Christian Fellowship, the Air University Foundation, and Naval War College Foundation, and the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation. "Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one's life for his friends." (John 15:13)

★ PUBLIUS ★

“Our cause is noble; it is the cause of mankind!” —George Washington

Please join us in prayer for our nation — that righteous leaders would rise and prevail and we would be united as Americans. Pray also for the protection of our Military Patriots, Veterans, First Responders, and their families. Please lift up your Patriot team and our mission to support and defend our Republic's Founding Principle of Liberty, that the fires of freedom would be ignited in the hearts and minds of our countrymen.

The Patriot Post is protected speech, as enumerated in the First Amendment and enforced by the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, in accordance with the endowed and unalienable Rights of All Mankind.

Copyright © 2024 The Patriot Post. All Rights Reserved.

The Patriot Post does not support Internet Explorer. We recommend installing the latest version of Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome.