People in the United States enjoy a great amount of freedoms. Unfortunately, one of the most exercised rights of a U.S. citizen is the “freedom” to refuse to take part in the democratic process—the freedom not to vote.
Of course, not all who don’t vote actively choose not to do so. Many people just don’t get the chance since they are working on election day, or live too far from the nearest voting station. However, a significant percentage of Americans, millennials included, simply do not vote even when they could have. Of the 3,138 Americans between the ages of 18 and 28 polled in the Spring 2016 Harvard Public Opinions Project poll, only 69 percent were of voting age and had registered to vote, and of that number only three-fifths actually voted in the 2012 presidential election. That means that roughly only 41 percent of young Americans voted in the last election, significantly lower than the national average of 49 percent. Even senior citizens, the age group with the highest voting rates in the country, barely make it to 60 percent. To someone from Brazil or Mexico, where voting is mandatory even when outside the country, this culture of noninvolvement in the political system might seem like an affront to democracy. And in many ways, they would be right.
A lack of voter participation could be seen as acceptable if the vast majority of people in the United States were happy with their government—if it isn’t broken don’t fix it, as the saying goes. The data shows a much different state of affairs, however. Almost half of young Americans (47 percent) think that the nation is “off on the wrong track.” Another third expressed ambivalence as to the country’s present and future condition, while only 15 percent said they approved of the situation. But despite the overwhelmingly critical outlook, only 28 percent of individuals polled said they were politically active, and even fewer (26 percent) said they thought their friends were engaged in the process. It is truly shocking that the youngest, healthiest subset of eligible voters in the country turn out for elections in such small numbers, especially when they believe their country to be on the wrong course. Could it be that millennial voters, despite their deep disapproval of the current state of U.S. policy, are simply uninterested in taking the next step and playing a part in the political process?
The problem seems to be more or less a uniquely American one. Out of the top 30 countries with the highest rates of voting (of which the United States is not a member), only three enforce compulsory voting. But although the problem is not caused by a lack of mandatory voting laws per se, there are many other important differences between the United States and much of the rest of the democratic world that lead to the discrepancy in participation.
For one, voter registration is an unusually individualistic procedure in the United States. Many other developed countries automatically register their citizens, even if some will never vote. There are also other barriers to voting in the United States that don’t exist in most other democracies. In Spain, Greece, and France, for example, voter ID is required but issued by the government at 18 years of age to all citizens. The United States has no such program. In Ireland and Sweden, ID is encouraged but not required, and in Canada there are 45 options for acceptable IDs, reducing the likelihood that an individual will be turned away at the polls. Some U.S. states, such as Indiana, however, only accept five forms of valid ID, and three of these (driver’s license, U.S. passport, and student ID card) have been argued to disproportionally bar poor Americans and those of color from being able to cast their votes. In addition, many businesses in the United States stay open during Election Day, excluding significant numbers of voters (again, mostly minority) from heading to the polls.
If participation is the goal of a democracy, the United States doesn’t seem to be working particularly well. The hassle of registering to vote, or even making it to the polls, discourages many from even trying. Thus, the frustration many young Americans feel toward the current state of governance does not translate into active political participation. This disconnect has the very real danger of leading the United States further and further from true democratic governance, since as fewer people vote, the chances of misrepresentation of the majority opinion become greater and greater.