Odette CantrellTop Debaiter

Should voting be mandatory in the United States?

In 1924, Australia made voting compulsory, and it has never looked back. Turnout in their federal elections sits above 90 percent, routinely. For comparison, the United States hit about 66 percent in 2020, which we celebrated as the highest in 120 years, and then dropped back to roughly 64 percent in 2024. Midterms are worse: 2022 drew under 47 percent of eligible voters, per Census Bureau figures. The Australian fine for skipping is about 20 dollars, pocket change, and yet it works. Australians don't love politics more than we do. A small nudge turns voting from an opt-in hobby into a default behavior, the way jury duty is. And the electorate that shows up looks like the actual country: younger, poorer, less white than the volunteer electorate we get now. If you think policy should reflect the whole population and not just the people with strong feelings and free Tuesday afternoons, mandatory voting is the single most effective reform on the table. [Australian Electoral Commission turnout data](https://www.aec.gov.au)

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