Compulsory Voting
It seems our electoral process brings confusion, frustration, and an utter lack of interest almost every national election. Even in a controversial and bombarding election as the one we experienced in 2016, barely half of our eligible population participated in the voting process. In fact, according to the Pew Research Center, the last time America had a turnout rate above sixty percent in a presidential election was the 1960s (besides Obama's 61% in 2008) and for mid-term elections that number has not reached fifty percent since 1912. Although voting may seem like a trivial aspect, it is a crucial facet of democracy and our nation’s leaders are being chosen by not even half of our population. This disproportion of voters actually participating in elections has created a divisive and gridlocked governmental system that is not representative of the true electorate. A solution to this issue could be to mimic Australia's successful electoral system of compulsory voting, in