It seems like every year, it’s a fight for people to get out and vote. In the most recent election, the voter percentage was over 65 percent according to the United States Census Bureau. While much higher than usual, it still isn’t enough. Some individuals believe that punishing those who fail to vote is the most effective way to encourage participation; however, there are more effective ways to address the problem.
Many individuals tend to believe that their vote doesn’t matter, and as a result, they decide not to vote at all. In reality, numerous elections have been decided by a few hundred votes or less. A recent example is the 2022 midterm election, when the seat for the New Hampshire House of Representatives ended in a tie. Following a revote, turnout increased by 5 percent. This suggests that people are very interested in voting when they think their vote carries more weight. If people felt like that for every election, the turnout at the polls could increase exponentially.
Incentivising citizens is the best approach to address the issue of voting, as incentives to vote would make people more open to making their votes known if they knew they would be rewarded. While both punishments and rewards have their individual benefits, rewarding instead of punishing would make sure that people who don’t want to vote wouldn’t have to.
In countries such as Singapore and Greece, voting is compulsory. These places have mild penalties for those who don’t participate, such as Singapore’s $5 fine for those who don’t vote and Fiji’s $20 fine. Due to these penalties, voting percentages have skyrocketed. A mild punishment could help alleviate the feeling of “the paradox of voting,” where people believe that the cost of voting outweighs the benefit. If it costs someone $5 in potential gas or rent money to vote due to a voting fine, they would have no interest in going. However, with a $10 fine as punishment for not voting, they can then save themselves $5 by participating and walking out of the polling booth with a profit.
Some individuals might not be open to compulsory voting. Many people feel disillusioned with the current political system and, if forced to vote, might purposefully have a blank or spoiled ballot. The larger solution to boost voting numbers is not implementing compulsory voting; it is studying how certain individuals might react if they are forced to vote under threat of punishment. If the government can resolve that issue, voting participation would no longer be an issue.
