Mandatory voting to be required of US citizens

Voting Rights Act guaranteed that right to all Americans, the vast majority of the country seems to have developed mass-amnesia.

Child Development major

–CORRECTIONS–

Volume 122, Issue 4

Page 1: The vote count and margin of victory reported in “Battle for Board of Trustees Seat 1 is final” included only the city of LA. The total vote count

80,426

79,305

SCOTT PREWITT sprewitt.roundupnews@gmail.com @s_prewitt

Universal suffrage is the foundation of any true democracy, but all too often it is seen as a right of citizenship, when in fact it is a civic responsibility.

By charging non-voters a nominal tax, that money could be put toward campaign finance reform, advertising local elections, or spent on programs aimed at getting low-income students involved in the political system.

For much of this country’s history, only white, landowning men could cast ballots in elections. Women didn’t gain that right until 1920, with the 19th Amendment. And although the 15th Amendment “guaranteed” black men the right to vote in 1870, many states continued to find new and creative ways to rob them of that right for nearly a century, until the Voting Rights Act became law in 1965.

Both of those groups fought an inconceivably difficult uphill battle against that inequality, defying odds that were heavily stacked against them, and ultimately secured the right to have an equal voice in the system that had treated them, at best, as second-class citizens.

Their struggle against that system began before America declared its independence, and the torch was passed from one generation to the next for nearly 200 years before they won that fundamental human right.

People were imprisoned, beaten, committed to asylums, and hanged, but they kept fighting, knowing that even if they never lived to step foot in a voting booth, their children and grandchildren could benefit from the blood they spilled.

Now, just 50 years after the

The United States Election Project found that only 30 percent of registered voters in California cast their ballots in the 2014 general election that saw Republicans take control of Congress.

The Pew Research Center found that African-Americans and minorities in general made up only 22 percent of likely voters in 2014. Conversely, minorities made up 43 percent of those likely not to vote in the same election.

That figure is startling. Three in 10 people in this state are making decisions that affect 100 percent here, yet the other seven believe their votes are inconsequential.

As that statistic creeps closer and closer to one person in 10, or five in 100, it is likely that the elected officials who win with such minute support will have little-tonothing in common with 95 out of 100 people they’d be tasked with governing. The interests of the candidate and the interests of the governed would be at irreversibly crossed-purposes.

A world where nobody votes wouldn’t look like Shangri-La, it would look like Berlin circa 1938. A small tax for those who refuse to participate in the decision-making process looks far less like fascism than a future where 1 percent of the population makes all of our decisions.

Mandatory voting should not be a law in this country, especially when many Americans are not wellinformed on what they actually vote for.

President Barack Obama mentioned an idea that would force all adults to vote here in the United States.

There are over 20 countries that have a mandatory voting law, according to PBS. But in the U.S., there are many different races and cultures that differ from the countries that have these policies.

Many people want to see a person of their race or gender become the next president, and they will vote for someone solely on that logic, regardless of the candidate’s actual beliefs or policies.

When President Obama was elected, he won because of race and popularity. There were many voters that wanted to see the first AfricanAmerican president and were going to vote for him no matter what he said or promised to do for the country.

Young voters were another reason

Obama won, but a great number of them had no idea what they were voting for and just picked someone they recognized from social media or television appearances.

The young Americans voted without being informed of who was running against Obama, and they had no knowledge of any current or future legislation.

In today’s society, it seems that voting has become a popularity contest. The younger generation also votes just to get an “I Voted” sticker and share it on social media.

“We shouldn’t be making it harder for voters, we should be making it easier,” Obama said.

Making it harder to vote is a better idea that would make sense for this country. Mandatory voting for all adults means everyone is going to vote in this country, even those people that do not want to vote.

Someone who does not want to vote shouldn’t be forced to.

Having some sort of test to be allowed to vote is what Obama should be suggesting. Forcing voters to take a test to be allowed to vote would eliminate the people that vote just because they can, as well as those that just want to be part of a trend.

There are people that do research and learn about what they are voting for, and those should be the people allowed at the polls.

If people continue to say that they want their voices to be heard, then they should be willing to take an exam to prove how qualified they are to cast a vote.

The deadline is 11:59 p.m. the Sunday prior to the issue date. Editorial Policy: be a letter.

The Pierce College Roundup position is presented only in the editorials.

Cartoons and photos, unless run under the editorial masthead, and columns are the opinions of the creators and not necessarily that of the Roundup.

The college newspaper is published as a learning experience under the college journalism instructional program. The editorial and advertising materials published herein, including any opinions expressed, are the responsibility of the student newspaper staff. Under appropriate state and federal court decisions, these materials are free from prior restraint by the virtue of the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America. Accordingly, materials published herein, including any opinions expressed, should not be interpreted as the position of the L.A. Community College District, the college or any officer or employee thereof.