Why do citizens fail to vote

The collective willingness to participate in democracy is on some level, an act of selflessness, he says. Don't miss: Chase Sapphire Preferred is offering a massive 80,point bonus for a limited time.

Skip Navigation. Jennifer Liu. This can be considered "principled abstention," says Federico. Still other people choose not to vote because news and politics is not of interest to them. VIDEO Facebook Facebook. Updated March 03, Featured Video.

View Article Sources. Cite this Article Format. Longley, Robert. Why Don't More Americans Vote? What Is Political Participation? Definition and Examples. A Guide to Voting as a College Student. Public Opinion Definition and Examples. Understanding the Ballot Initiative Process. Importance of the US Presidential Primaries. Representative Democracy: Definition, Pros, and Cons. Your Privacy Rights.

To change or withdraw your consent choices for ThoughtCo. At any time, you can update your settings through the "EU Privacy" link at the bottom of any page. Voters who are voting against their free will may check off a candidate at random, particularly the top candidate on the ballot.

The voter does not care whom they vote for as long as the government is satisfied that they fulfilled their civic duty. What effect does this immeasurable category of random votes have on the legitimacy of the democratically elected government?

A figure depicting the exact number of countries that practice compulsory voting is quite arbitrary. The simple presence or absence of mandatory voting laws in a constitution is far too simplistic. It is more constructive to analyse compulsory voting as a spectrum ranging from a symbolic, but basically impotent, law to a government which systematic follow-up of each non-voting citizen and implement sanctions against them.

This spectrum implies that some countries formally have compulsory voting laws but do not, and have no intention to, enforce them. There are a variety of possible reasons for this. Not all laws are created to be enforced.

Some laws are created to merely state the government's position regarding what the citizen's responsibility should be. Mandatory voting laws that do not include sanctions may fall into this category.

Although a government may not enforce mandatory voting laws or even have formal sanctions in law for failing to vote, the law may have some effect upon the citizens. For example, in Austria voting is compulsory in only two regions, with sanctions being weakly enforced.

However, these regions tend to have a higher turnout average than the national average. Other possible reasons for not enforcing the laws could be complexity and resources required for enforcement. Countries with limited budgets may not place the enforcement of mandatory voting laws as a high priority still they hope that the presence of the law will encourage the citizens to participate. Can a country be considered to practice compulsory voting if the mandatory voting laws are ignored and irrelevant to the voting habits of the electorate?

Is a country practicing compulsory voting if there are no penalties for not voting? What if there are penalties for failing to vote but they are never or are scarcely enforced? Or if the penalty is negligible? Many countries offer loopholes, intentionally and otherwise, which allow non-voters to go unpunished. For example, in many countries it is required to vote only if you are a registered voter, but it is not compulsory to register.

People might then have incentives not to register. His voice quavered as he implored us — for the sake of our country — to vote. Voter turnout in the United States is incredibly low compared to similar countries, notes Donald Green. In fact, U. Most are fairly interested in politics, notes Mert Moral.

They talk about politics. They are interested in political topics at the local level. Scientists have been looking into this. Below are four reasons they offer to explain why many people do not show up at the polls. If you are a citizen, you are signed up to vote. Not so in the United States. It is up to each person there to sign up, notes Barry Burden.

To register, someone must go to an official site, such as a library or a government office, then fill out paperwork.