unit 5

Name:
Instructor:
Course:
Date:
Mandatory voting is the process that governments by the act of law enforce their people to register, show up at the polling stations and finally vote. In 1915 in the British Empire, Queens land-Australia became the first place in the Liberal government of Digby Denham to introduce mandatory voting; People were subjected to voting whether they liked the idea or not the failure to which one was to face a consequence. In the attempt to balance freedom and control in the society, Liberal democracies depend on hearing from citizens through elections. The article below is to discuss whether or not the Government of Canada implements mandatory voting.
Even though it may be an individual’s decision to either take part in government’s affair or not; implementation of mandatory voting in Canada has faced different views and opinions from the citizens (Lansford 56). To start with, mandatory voting is the only way to permanently eradicate dictatorship since it creates awareness that in as much as you may be the ruler, citizens are the main reason you are in that position. Also, it is well indicated that voting is the only means by which democracy can be protected, it is through this process that people’s challenges and problems can be heard by the government through constituency representatives and other government officials.
In the article given, it is noted that some people viewed the act of mandatory voting as dictatorship-how can a liberal nation force its citizens to vote? Despite the fact that others are much consumed in their daily activities, leave alone taking a time to read a newspaper or watching news some don’t care about the voting practice at all.

Other people view politicians as crooks hence view the act of voting as “supporting” them in their wayward behavior.
Mandatory voting in Canada just like any other civil duty e.g. taxation, compulsory education or youth/military service should be implemented owing to the many advantages that tag along. The only way to have a democratic rule is by allowing the citizens of the nation to dictate what they want; this can only be achieved through voting, but some people take themselves lightly and feel that their vote can’t make a change, and this is very wrong. Mandatory voting reminds everyone that he/she has and must take the responsibility for managing the nation, in doing so, the government is left with no choice other than performing its duties to citizens’ satisfaction, and this tags along lots of benefits and privileges.
Disenfranchisement of the socially disadvantaged is prevented from mandatory voting. Also, voting is done in secret ballots hence voters are not compelled to vote for a given person but instead one vote for his/her person of interest. Apart from putting the government on the track of considering the total electorate in the protocol formulation and management, Mandatory voting aids in the occasional exasperation that voting imposes on an individual to produce the government with more stability and a genuine mandate to be in power. The fruit of the above statement is that citizens are guaranteed benefits even if their candidates or party is not in power. This process also helps in time saving during the campaigns; politicians won’t have to waste most of their time in the effort of educating and explaining benefits of voting to the general public, but instead they will shoot directly to their manifesto. Finally, people will be out in their numbers. Hence, there will be no gaps of corruption and other electoral related issues like rigging.
Work Cited
Lansford, Tom. Voting Rights. Detroit: Greenhaven, 2008. Print.