Taking
Democracy Seriously
By Joel S. Hirschhorn
13 March, 2007
Countercurrents.org
American: So you mean
that if you Australians don’t vote, you get a fine?
Australian: Yeah, and
when you Americans don’t vote you get George W. Bush.
As
surely as politicians lie, citizen apathy produces democracy atrophy.
Much more than a right – in a democracy voting is an irrevocable
civic duty. No mental gymnastics can help you jump over this ugly reality:
Voter turnout over all American elections averages markedly less than
half of eligible voters. This disgrace must be fixed.
These are my proposed solutions:
We should make voting mandatory, give voters the option of “none
of the above,” make Election Day a national holiday, provide same
day registration everywhere, and lower the voting age to 16.
No one reform is a panacea.
But together these five reforms can dramatically re-energize voting
in America. They could be placed in one constitutional amendment and
ratified by the states in time for the 2008 presidential election. Limiting
public support, however, is an elitist mindset among people with political
power, wealth and intellectual arrogance. They wrongly dismiss large
numbers of citizens for their lack of education or political involvement.
Electoral reforms can create a culture of voting that ultimately produces
a more informed public.
Mandatory Voting
This is not a crazy, radical
idea. Hold your reaction on what probably is a new idea for you. Over
30 countries have compulsory voting. Violating the law usually merits
something akin to a parking fine, but it still works. When Australia
adopted it in 1924 turnouts increased from under 50 percent to a consistent
90-plus percent. Conversely, when the Netherlands eliminated compulsory
voting in 1970 voting turnouts plunged from 90 percent to less than
50 percent. Polls regularly show 70 percent to 80 percent of Australians
support mandatory voting. Research found that people living in countries
with compulsory voting are roughly twice as likely to believe that their
government is responsive to the public’s needs and 2.8 times as
likely to vote as compared to citizens in countries without compulsory
voting. Is compulsory voting inconsistent with personal freedom? No!
We have compulsory education, jury duty, and taxes that are more onerous
than voting periodically. And all people have to do is turn out to vote.
What they do with their secret ballot is up to them.
Counting Dissatisfaction
When people can officially
say with their ballot that none of the candidates is acceptable, it
makes compulsory voting more palatable. In turn, it can increase voting
for ballot initiatives and measures. And it is better than lesser-evil
voting that has become all too common, because of the two-party duopoly’s
stranglehold on our political system. It is beats so-called “Mickey
Mouse” voting, whereby people write in frivolous names. Nevada
offers the None of the Above option, though the candidate with the greatest
number of votes wins. Yet protest votes are counted, sending a message
to parties and politicians.
Election Day Holiday
Standing in a long line to
vote often loses out to being at work or doing other things typical
of work and school days. Long commute times add to peoples’ time
poverty. On a holiday, voting would be more evenly spread out throughout
the day and could be held at more places. It would be easier to recruit
the best qualified poll workers and government costs would be reduced
because of shorter hours. A national holiday also sends an important
message: Voting is critically important and something to be celebrated.
Opinion surveys have found that 60 percent or more favor making Election
Day a holiday. The National Commission on Federal Election Reform made
a strong case for this action. Like others, the commission backed moving
Veterans’ Day to coincide with Election Day. The holiday might
be called Veterans’ Democracy Election Day. Most Western democracies
hold elections on either holidays or weekends. In Puerto Rico people
are given the day off and voter turnouts are typically over 80 percent.
Early and absentee voting attack some problems. But a national holiday
that celebrates the sacred duty of voting by all eligible voters makes
more sense. Voting should become more of a social, community activity,
bringing Americans together, rather than something done as quickly as
possible to get it over with.
Same Day Registration
At least 30 percent of eligible
voters do not vote because they are not registered. It makes no sense
to make registration onerous. It should be done automatically once voter
rolls are established and once citizens show up the first time to vote
and present residence and citizenship qualifications, as required. Same
day registration has been used successfully in some states for about
30 years. Minnesota, Maine, New Hampshire, Idaho, Wisconsin, Montana,
Connecticut, and Wyoming use this approach. North Dakota abandoned registration
entirely in 1951. Five of these states have the highest voter turnout
in the country. When Montana used it for the first time in 2006, voter
turnout jumped from the usual 50 percent to 70 percent. With more same
day registration it is appropriate to have more safeguards against all
forms of voter fraud, especially registering non-citizens.
Youthful Citizens
We place no upper age restriction
on voting, even though some elderly people have reduced mental capabilities,
and are often taken advantage of by get-out-the-vote efforts of the
two major parties. Our political system is deciding the future for our
younger citizens. On fairness alone, balancing a large over-50 voting
bloc with younger citizens is justified. Youths age 16 to 18 pay substantial
taxes, are often treated as adults in criminal cases, have definite
interests impacted by public policy, and in some states can marry and
obtain a driver’s license. Being in high school is an advantage,
because there is more stability and time to build a habit of voting.
Considering our Information Age, lowering the age to 16 makes perfect
sense. What happens between ages 16 and 18 to make younger citizens
more qualified to vote? Nothing. There is a movement to register 16
year olds, but making them wait until 18 to vote is plain silly. New,
younger voters can help make voting a patriotic family activity on the
new national holiday.
Countries using this lower
age include Brazil, Cuba, Nicaragua, and the Isle of Man, and movements
for doing so are strong in Britain, Canada and many more. In Germany,
a greater proportion of 16 and 17 year-olds voted than those aged 18
to 35 – and twice as many as those in their later 20s –
in municipal elections in Hanover. In local elections in Vienna, Austria,
59 percent of 16- to 18-year-olds cast a ballot, about the same as other
age groups. Rather than starting wars to spread democracy, America could
lead a global surge in voter entitlement. This is what populism is all
about.
A Constitutional
Necessity
Voting is the heart of a
healthy democracy. With our persistent low voter turnout, the heart
of American democracy is barely beating. The decline of American democracy
is both a cause and consequence of low voter turnout. Low voter turnout
makes a mockery of representative democracy. Most politicians get elected
with – at best – not much more than 25 percent of eligible
voters. This may explain why bought-and-paid-for politicians mostly
represent corporate and other special interests. Hefty political contributions
by less than 1 percent of adults trump voting.
Face facts. Incremental and
piecemeal attempts at electoral reforms have failed. Why? Because those
in power do not want across-the-board high voter turnout. Shame on them.
And shame on us for letting Democrats and Republicans get away with
using costly means to get out their base supporters. This perpetuates
divisive partisan politics that entertain and anger Americans rather
than serve them – 70 percent of whom are centrists.
Now is the time for one bold
constitutional amendment that can grab public attention and move the
nation forward. If Congress is too cowardly to propose the amendment,
then we need two-thirds of state legislatures to request an Article
V Convention for this purpose; to learn more about this never-used constitutional
right go to www.foavc.org.
Let us begin by urging members
of Congress and 2008 presidential candidates to take a public stand
on electoral reforms. Will Democrats and Republicans walk the talk of
cooperation for the good of the nation?
Abraham Lincoln spoke of
government "of the people, by the people and for the people.”
If you really believe in these words, then speak out to increase voter
turnout to resuscitate America’s half-dead democracy.
[Check out the author’s
new book at www.delusionaldemocracy.com.]