Should voting be mandatory in the United States?

Low turnout is a subsidy for extremists. When only half to two-thirds of eligible adults vote, a candidate can win with the support of about a quarter of the country. That rewards campaigns that energize their base and demoralize everyone else, which is exactly how you get politics that runs on outrage. Compulsory voting drags the middle of the electorate into the booth, and the middle punishes candidates who sound unhinged. Brennan Center research on turnout consistently shows that broader electorates produce more moderate outcomes.