...supposedly protecting our rights and taking into account the views of all of its citizens. Citizens express their views by voting for representatives to speak on their behalf or by joining interest groups. In our current voting system however, many groups of people are barred from voting, yet they are forced to abide to the laws passed by our government. Whether it is because they are undocumented immigrants, felons, or even because their state requires tests that they are incapable of passing, these people are being unfairly represented in our government. Although our constitution provides the framework for our voting system, it leaves the right to the states to establish who is able to vote and who isn’t. In order to prevent this inequality in the voting process, states should be required to share the same voting requirements and it should be easier for immigrants to gain their citizenship so they as well can have a say in government. The American constitution established the framework of the voting system that we use today in our modern society. Voting first started in 1776, during the time of the colonies and the revolution and only white male Protestants were able to vote. At the time when George Washington was elected President, only 6% of the current population was eligible to vote, so voting was very restricted. In 1866 the Civil Rights Act granted citizenship to all American born people. However, it did not mention that all citizens had the right to vote, it left that to be...
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...Yes your vote does count Why Americans (or young people) be more involved in politics? Our forefathers were beaten and mistreated and fought for us to have the right to vote. We should take the time to get involved and go out exercise our right to vote. Not just Americans should go out to vote, but especially women and Blacks. Our future depends on what is going on in politics. Therefore we should be involved in America the land that we love. Our forefathers fought for us to have the right to vote. Think back to your grandfather and great grandfathers and grandmothers what they went through in order to have the right to vote. My grandmother told me that she had to take a test to be able to vote, and so did Rosa Parks. This was not fair to our people but they had to endure it. Selma to Montgomery march made history for us as a people. They were hosed down with water and dogs let loose on them. Our foreparents were proud and wanted to be treated equally and fairly. The color of someone’s skin should not dictate the way that they should be treated. The Bible teaches us to love our neighbor as ourselves. We as American people should care enough about our country to get out and exercise our right to vote. We have earned the right to vote and we should utilize our rights as American citizens. If we don’t get out and vote then when things are not going right don’t complain, because you forfeited your right to vote. When you didn’t go to the poll and, vote you was...
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...I agree that requiring Americans to vote is un-American. If one does not want to vote they should not have to. The first reason on why I agree would be a democracy cant be strong if its citizenship is weak. The second reason on why I agree is if some regularly vote while others don’t, officials are likely to give greater weight to participants. And lastly my third reason on why I agree is that low voter turnouts pushes American politics toward increased polarization. The first reason why I agree would be a democracy can’t be strong if its citizenship is weak. According to the article “Telling Americans to Vote, or Else” By William A. Galston “American citizenship is attenuated — strong on rights, weak on responsibilities.” Citizenship is what...
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...lines only to be denied. These American citizens, who are also felons, are being denied the right to vote due to disenfranchisement laws. In the United States, “Two states, Vermont and Maine, allow convicted felons to vote while in prison. Nine states permanently restrict certain felons from voting (until and if granted the state governor's pardon) even if those people have served their prison sentence, parole, probation, and paid all fines. The remaining 36 states fall somewhere in between,” (ProCon.org, 2009). Felons should have the right to vote, as they have paid or are paying their debt to society, and the millions of missing felony votes impact all of us. How many times have you voted in a close race and your candidate did not win? Imagine if just a fraction of the felons that share your views were allowed to vote just like they are allowed to pay taxes. Millions of Americans in our republic are not represented at every election due to non-felony voting, which can be said to be undemocratic, and as such, felons should be allowed to vote in all states. “The legislature has sent a clear message that voting is a fundamental right that should not be stripped away from people who are working, paying taxes and contributing to their communities, “said Steven Brown, Executive Director of the ACLU of Rhode Island. According to the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, the right of citizens of the United States to vote is a fundamental right. An author from the New York...
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...Matt Hamilton American Government PS1350 August 10, 2015 Mr. R. S. MCCULOUGH “American Voters” In the United States the voter turnout during elections has decreased over the last fifteen years. In 2012 the Bipartisan Policy Center compared voter turnout rates for the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections, The BPC said “Despite an increase of over 8 million citizens in the eligible population, turnout declined from 131 million voters in 2008 to an estimated 126 million voters in 2012 when all ballots are tallied. Some 93 million eligible citizens did not vote.” Many Americans feel like their vote doesn’t count anyway, mainly citizens who are already disadvantaged. Australian professor of Politics Lisa Hill states in her article What We’ve Seen in Australia With Mandatory Voting that, “Places with mandatory voting also have less wealth inequality, lower levels of political corruption and higher levels of satisfaction with the way democracy is working than voluntary systems.” Critics say that implementing mandatory voting is against the constitution, and what we value the most, freedom. Furthermore, Hill states “ Is being required to vote a violation of autonomy? Sure, but so is mandatory taxation, jury duty and the requirement to educate our children. Yet these are all good ideas. Voting should be mandatory because as American citizens we live in a democratic society where everyone should have an opinion. Although, Americans value independence and the free-will to do whatever...
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...discrimination. Women and African Americans have both faced discrimination. There are different forms of discrimination such as voting and segregation. Federal and state governments have taken action but not all the time. Some actions have protected rights while others have limited rights. Women and African Americans are just two groups of many that have been discriminated. Discrimination to African Americans and Women has changed through history in different ways. Voting rights for African Americans have been denied. Most African Americans came to the U.S. as slaves and for many years were slaves. After the Civil War (during Reconstruction) African Americans could vote but that did...
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...voters outnumbered those who casted a vote for Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Among those who did vote, the age group that had the lowest participation rate ranged from 18 to 29 years old. This lack of participation of young Americans place a strain on issues that affect the young population, such as allowing officials to ignore concerns involving student debt and funding for higher education. Young Americans have the power to voice their political, social, and economic opinions to make a difference, but they ignore the opportunity to act during election day due to two misconceptions: their vote does not matter and the election does not concern them. Today, I am going to explain how every vote matters, express the importance of voting, and...
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...Should Americans be Required to Vote? Why would a country that revels in the fact that they have more freedoms than most countries obligate their citizens to vote? It is clear that american citizens should not be forced to vote. People feel that if they were given a day off work on election day, they would be able to vote. Another way is if citizens were able to vote early. Should the eligible citizens of america be obligated to vote? There are three reasons why Americans should not be obligated to vote. First of all ignorant voters are dangerous,the fact that citizens do not participate as much shouldn't be masked, and the higher level education people receive the higher percentage of them will vote. One reason why Americans should not be required to vote is that ignorant voters are dangerous. Evidence supporting this reason is “must you vote?” new York times by randy Cohen. A quote that I found on this site explaining the dangers of ignorant voters is, “It is irresponsible to encourage the unaware to put their ignorance into action so aimlessly...you might as well urge the unpracticed to Rollerblade and use power tools simultaneously. At least they'd injure only themselves.” this evidence helps explain why Americans should not be required to vote because when the ignorant vote their vote could possibly be the vote that takes a...
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...Hunter Bailey-Hofmann English 103 17 January 2015 Should Voting Be Mandatory? In the United States, voter turnout during elections has decreased over the last fifteen years. In 2012 the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) compared voter turnout rates, for the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections, The BPC states “Despite an increase of over eight million citizens in the eligible population, turnout declined from 131 million voters in 2008 to an estimated 126 million voters in 2012 when all ballots are tallied. Some 93 million eligible citizens did not vote.” Many Americans feel like their vote doesn’t count anyway, mainly citizens who are already disadvantaged. Australian professor of Politics Lisa Hill states in her article What We’ve Seen in Australia With Mandatory Voting that, “Places with mandatory voting also have less wealth inequality, lower levels of political corruption and higher levels of satisfaction with the way democracy is working than voluntary systems.” Critics say that implementing mandatory voting is against the constitution, and what we value the most, freedom. Furthermore, Hill states “ Is being required to vote a violation of autonomy? Sure, but so is mandatory taxation, jury duty and the requirement to educate our children. Yet, these are all good ideas.” Voting should be mandatory because as American citizens we live in a democratic society where everyone should have an opinion. Although, Americans value independence and the free-will to do whatever they...
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...Should Felons be Allowed to Vote? 1 In this essay, I will be in support of felons having their voting rights restored after serving their prison sentences and completing all terms and conditions of probation or parole successfully. My reasons for supporting the restoration of felons’ voting rights are because voting is a “right” under the Constitution of the United States. After a person serves their prison sentence; some ex-felons have the ability to be and remain rehabilitated and live productive lives. Also, the laws are changing making it easier to be charged as a felon. Most of the people that are against felons voting claim that they make bad judgments because they do not abide by the laws. Also, convicted felons continue to violate the laws and further prove they are irresponsible, and felons need to be taught a lesson about breaking the laws (“ProCon.org”). Does a person lose citizenship when convicted of a felony? Citizens convicted of a felony but who have completed their sentencing and parole requirements should enjoy all of the same rights as other citizens. I refute disenfranchisement because it is not a novel practice. Its roots are historic. There have been numerous legal challenges to disenfranchisement laws, and courts have found the practice to be unconstitutional. In these legal challenges, one argument, which courts have never fully examined, however, is that disenfranchisement is linked to...
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...Felon Voting In the United States, people convicted with felony are barred from participating in voting in any election. According to Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law (2008), it is estimated that about five million felony victims have been denied this chance, a condition referred to as disenfranchisement. Every state in America has its own law concerning disenfranchisement. Felons are only allowed to vote in Maine and Vermont states (Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, 2008). Some states demand that felon re-enfranchisement should be enhanced to allow felons who have already completed their sentence to participate in elections. They argue that their privileges and rights should be restored by allowing them to cast votes. According to them, blocking felons from voting is undemocratic, unfair, racially, and politically motivated while opponents state that felons have poor judgment, and should not be entrusted with this fundamental right. This research paper gives a clear summary of two articles concerning their position on felon voting. The first article is Liberal and republication argument against the disenfranchisement of felons by Jeffrey Reiman, and the second one is Locked out: felon disenfranchisement and America democracy by Jeff Manza and Christopher Uggen. Both articles indicate that disenfranchisement of criminal offenders who are already through with their sentences is ethically and morally wrong. The two authors lobby for the enfranchisement...
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...Can people be too busy to have a voice in politics? The ability to vote has come to Americans through countless struggles such as King George the III, the denial of women's rights, and the denial of minority rights. A right to vote is not something that should be taken lightly. The citizens of the United States of America are full of pride when it comes to the world seeing them as a strong, democratic nation. Although, according to Merriam Webster, a democracy is defined as “a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections” (Merriam Webster). A democracy is not strong, however, when a low...
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...INTRODUCTION Citizens, politicians, and officials have been in heated debates on whether Americans are capable of handling their responsibilities that are given just for being a citizen. Voting is a personal choice for Americans. The fears of losing rights and freedom have been present for many decades and centuries. Everybody is concerned that citizens may not be as free as they once were. People fought hard to make every American citizen free. Citizens who complain that our government is not perfect and is not doing well for the United States are people who usually do not even vote. One vote can make a difference. Citizens are extremely concerned with our rights and freedom, but do not even attempt to make a change. Citizens are capable of holding the responsibility of voting and being a United States citizen. Although citizens are capable, Americans do not attempt to be more informed. I think that if a citizen is more informed, the better choices that then leads to better decisions in the United States. Citizens are responsible for their own country and they need to take part in making this country succeed. Politicians may not always make the best decisions, so when citizens have the chance; they need to get their thoughts and words out. United States Citizens are Americans; citizens of the United States are live in freedom and have rights. Citizens need to remember that they became free and that the freedom leads them to make decisions that are best for every...
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...great rights, that we as Americans have. We have the freedom to vote and the freedom to choose whether we want too or not. However, just because voting matters it does not mean that everyone does it. Studies show that barely 60% of voters participate in the elections that take place here. So why don’t voters vote? I mean we fought for the right to vote so why don’t we take that privilege? The question that face americans today is Should americans be required be to vote? I think Americans should be required to vote because Many nations have good voter turn out, we could have better informed voters and we could have higher voter turnout. The first reason i think americans should be required to vote is because many nations have good voter turnout. In Document A it shows that at least 40 countries have required voting. This is...
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...America, including the voting system; American citizens have always had the option of voting since its creation. But given that American citizens have the choice to vote, many opt not to, which results in low voter turn outs. In contrast, some countries have compulsory voting, a forced system of voting to improve low voter turn outs. While a good idea in theory, there is many flaws in the idea of compulsory voting. In order to enforce compulsory voting, national governments must have punishments for those who neglect voting, and this intrudes onto...
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