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 which casting a ballot in federal or state elections is mandatory and a person can face punitive actions for not doing so.
     Australia implemented this practice and made the election days national holidays in the 1960's after having a streak of abysmally low voter-turnout rates and ever since the country has had turnout rates consistently above 90%. Voter eligible citizens must participate in the electoral process or else they are issued a modest fine that can increase after each missed election. This system could be mimicked in the United States and would decrease the intense polarization we see in our government today.  The citizens most likely to participate in voting are ones who feel strongly connected to one party or another so when it comes time to elect representatives, senators, or even presidents the candidates with strong ties to their own party will be elected. If voting was compulsory then those who do not typically vote will, and politicians will have to appeal to a larger majority of citizens instead of just extreme left or right wing voters. This means moderate officials are more likely to be voted in and will be more likely to compromise and work together to actually pass legislation and get things done.
     If this process of compulsory voting were to be implemented in our congressional elections it would also have profound benefits in terms of broadening the representation of groups of people who are largely overlooked in our current system. Today older, white, educated people are most likely to vote for a number of different reasons and politicians knowing this, cater their campaigns and policy ideas to those types of people. However, if more minorities and more lower-class citizens were participating in the electoral process then they could elect officials that better represent them and their ideals because politicians would have to win their vote instead of just counting on older white people to turnout like some do today. This would create a legislative body that more accurately represents the population and their beliefs.   
     Although it would not be a relatively easy task to change our electoral system to a compulsory voting style, it seems the benefits of less polarization and more representation in our government outweigh any negatives it could bring.