Mandatory Vote example essay topic

Mandatory Vote in Canada Submitted by: Kyle Heavy Student #: 228483 Political Studies 111.3 Instructor: Dr. Schwab Due Date: Oct. 29, 2003 Introduction Should voting be mandatory in Canada? Yes. In 1993, 63.87 per cent of the Canadian population voted in the Parliamentary election. That is under 14 million voters in a 29 million population. Only about 22 million of those were of legal voting age, but it is still a national disgrace. It only gets worse.

In 1997, 57.06 per cent of Canadians voted, and in 2000, the number fell to 54.64 per cent. It should be mandatory to vote because we pay taxes for funding. In an election in November 2001 in Australia, a whopping 95.4 per cent of eligible voters voted, and they have a mandatory vote. It is time that Canada stepped up to the bar. People Pay to Vote On most things that we buy, varying from a candy we get at a convenience store, to a much larger purchase such as an automobile, we pay taxes. Where do taxes go?

To the government, federal and provincial, for many things that they need. The money goes towards things such as better health care, better roads, all kinds of things that make our lives a little bit easier. There are over 31 million people in Canada today. About 24 million of those 31 million are of legal voting age. Those 24 million voters are all enjoying things such as roads, health care, and schools for their kids.

Over 24 million voters sleep better because they have protection from police, firemen, and armed forces. All of these people are enjoying things that are taken for granted, and under 13 million of these people voted in the 2000 federal election. It is mandatory to pay these taxes that fund all of the people in Parliament, who pay for all of these things that we take completely for granted. Thus, it should be mandatory to decide who all of this money is spent on. Public Appeal to Mandatory Voting When asked the question, "Do you think that voting should or should not be mandatory in Canada?" , the general response was no. When asked, one man said "Making voting mandatory falls against the ideas of democracy.

In democracy, the basic idea is allowing the voter to make decisions. One decision is whether or whether not to vote, especially if none of the candidates follow his / her beliefs or values". Another said "If voting was made mandatory in Canada, the final result of a federal vote would be thrown off. This is because there are many people out there who have no idea who stands for what. They would play a guessing game when it came time to vote, and never know what the candidate stands for when you vote". While these two statements are both true, they can be argued.

"Not all laws are created to be enforced. Some laws are created to merely state the government's position regarding what the citizen's responsibility should be. Mandatory voting laws that do not include sanctions may fall into this category. Although a government may not enforce mandatory voting laws or even have formal sanctions in law for failing to vote, the law may have some effect upon the citizens. For example, in Austria voting is compulsory in only two regions, with sanctions being weakly enforced. However, these regions have a higher turnout average than the national average".

1 Voting for Your Own Rights There are certain issues that are looked at when voting, that really only effect one kind of people. For example, this would be native issues in Saskatchewan. If voting was 1 web mandatory, then all natives would vote, and have more of a say on what happens to them and their rights. In this case, who knows? Mandatory voting may be a step to get more aboriginal people interested in politics, and get minorities with power. No Interest For many people, the lack of voting is due to lack of interest or care.

People think things such as "their vote does not matter", or "all the leaders are the same". These kind of people do not vote, and leave the voting up to the people that follow politics. If voting was made mandatory, then many of these people may just play a guessing game when it comes to voting, but others may take an interest. They may become involved in politics and learn to understand that not all parties are the same, and that their vote does make a difference. Many people who do not vote have very important opinions and views, but they are not expressed because they think that one person can not make a difference. Little do they know, one person can make a difference.

With mandatory voting, all these important opinions will get out there. The more opinions and suggestions that people make, the better idea political leaders have of how to run the country. Referendums With a mandatory voting law, first off, everyone would have to vote. If everyone was voting, the public would become stronger and stronger and achieve more and more of a voice, and have to be listened to. There is no way that the people in power can ignore a plus-90 percent voting population. To better please all of these people, maybe there would be more referendums for more things, so the people get to decide how more things are run.

The public is not a pack of uneducated worms, as some people think. Most decisions would definitely be made by the person who was voted into power, but it is very possible that the public will be much stronger and more powerful than we ever have been before in Canada. Referendum is definitely a good idea so that the public can really make their voices heard, and no longer ignored as much as it has been in the past. Obligations In a democracy, there should be a certain communication through Premier and the public. Government has much, if not everything to do with how our lives are lived. Because of this important fact, people should feel an obligation to vote for who gets into power, and who makes our "life-controlling" decisions.

Many people do not feel this obligation, and would if a mandatory voting became a law in Canada. There would also be an obligation for politicians towards the public. In campaigns, many politicians make all kinds of empty promises that are never fulfilled, just to appeal to the public at election time. If more people knew about these promises, then there would be many people very angry, so this would force politicians not no longer make as many empty promises. It is Working in Other Countries There are many countries in the world with a mandatory vote law. All of them are also democracies.

In the last federal election in Canada, the voter turnout was very low. The trend of eligible voters that are actually voting is continuing to drop. In the last Australian election, over 95 per cent of eligible voters voted. The second highest voter turnout belongs to Belgium, where the voting turnout is also over 90 per cent. What these two countries have that Canada does not is a law that forces the public to vote. The continuous lowering of voter turnout in Canada is getting quite serious, and something needs to be done.

There are many other parts in the world, too, that do not have a mandatory voting law, and their voter turnout is also dropping. They may be dropping, but not one country's turnout is falling by more than in Canada. There has been researchers that have been trying to figure out why this sharp decline exists. There are many reasons. They vary from passivity encouraged by television, so just simply a falling lack of respect in politicians. There are also people who are very successful and have less of a dependence of government.

On the same hand, there are people in serious poverty that have a sense of helplessness and feel that there is no way that their voting will make any sort of difference in their lives. In Australia and Belgium, there are penalties that are enforced when a person does not vote. In Australia, for example, there is an initial charge of 16 dollars if an eligible person does not vote. They are then given the opportunity to tell a good excuse for not voting, say they were in the hospital.

If there is no good excuse given, then that fine goes up to 40 dollars. That is why their turnout is so high. There is not very many people out there that would rather pay a 40 dollar fine than go vote. Other countries, such as Costa Rica, Portugal, and Spain, also have mandatory voting laws. The difference in these countries is that there is no real penalty for not voting.

It could be compared to having a pirate card for a satellite dish. It is illegal, but punishment is rarely enforced. The voting percentage in these countries did go up, but not nearly as much as Australia when they enforced a mandatory voting law in 1924. If Canada was ever to get a mandatory voting law, there would have to be a punishment, such as a fine, that was enforced.

We need a higher voting turnout. The less a public participates in a democracy, the weaker that democracy becomes. If a mandatory voting law was enforced, then Canada would become a stronger democracy. If this mandatory law was ever to come about, of course there would be a cost trying to enforce the law. In Australia, the average cost of enforcing this law is about 1 million Australian dollars. This cost would include things like paying collection agencies to go around to people's houses that do not voluntarily pay when they do not vote.

There would also be many government man hours put in, such as possible suspending one's driver's license until payment is made, or people shaving money off of pay checks or out bank accounts. On the same hand, though, they get back about 5 hundred thousand dollars in fines from the approximate 5 percent of people that do not vote. A net cost of five hundred thousand dollars seems pretty minimal in comparison to the millions billions of dollars that the federal government spends on things each year. Half a million dollars seems definitely affordable. The Liberal leaders in Canada do not seem to really care that much that there is a low voter turnout every election, that keeps falling more and more each election. In their eyes, the fact that less and less people are voting seems to them like people are satisfied with the government that they have now.

Also, it is common knowledge that the Liberals win election after election after election. If there was a mandatory voting law, it just may hurt the Liberals. If this is true, then it is unlikely that the Liberals, the people in power, will ever enforce this law. Especially if they think that the low votes mean people support them, and that enforcing this law may someday take them out of power. People Complaining It seems like no matter where you go, or what you do, people are always complaining about how political leaders are running our country into the ground. The way many people talk, it sounds like they think that they could do a much better job themselves as the Prime Minister.

Half the people that are complaining, probably did not even vote. If there was a law that made voting compulsory, then everyone would vote, and then they could only hold themselves accountable for voting - whoever into Parliament. Raising Public Awareness People being forced into voting would probably want to learn a little more about the different politicians / parties that they are voting for. Voters would then learn about many different things about their country. People would actually watch the part on the news where there is a debate, and they talk about things like some of the problems that are happening in Canada, that normally people would not know. Even if they did hear it on the news, and did not care, what they saw or heard would be easily dismissed.

If voting was mandatory, then the things that they see would not be as easily dismissed out of their minds. People would learn things such as key issues of Canada's role in the world marketplace, and also many local problems. It is human nature that when thy learn something new, they want to talk about it. The voting population will learn more and more, and talk to each other more and more about what they might have seen on the news, etc. This also raises public awareness by word of mouth. It is very important to know the world around us, and to be aware of things going on.

So basically, if people were forced to vote, they would want to learn more about the world around them, and then look over platforms by different politicians. They would then vote for the candidate that would best stand for fixing the problems that a certain voter believes to be most important. Being more aware of the world around you would help you to make better decisions regarding everyday life. Conclusion Voting is not just a privilege, it is a right. Every four years, fewer and fewer of us are exercising that right.

If Canada continues this decline in voters, then who knows how many people will be voting 30 years down the road? People really need to wise up about the political world around them, and stop complaining about things in politics that they do not even understand to begin with. If compulsory voting was put into play, it would make the public have that much of a louder voice to the men and women in power. People pay taxes every day to support these people in power, spending their hard earned money on them. It just does not make any sense that someone would give up so much money to someone else, and not really care to whom, or what they might do with it. If mandatory voting has worked for this long in other countries, why has Canada, hardly a third world country, tried anything of this sort?

Before Australia decided to enforce a mandatory voting policy in the 20's, less that 50 per cent of the population actually voted. Now, they have the highest voting turnout on the planet. It is definitely not too late to make a change for the better. There will be slim to no downfalls to having a mandatory vote, so come on Canada, it's time for a change..