Voting Matters, Period.

I’m going to flat out say it. I wish voting were mandatory. Did you know there are over 20 countries around the world that have compulsory voting laws? In Australia, failure to vote can result in a $20 fine.

According to New York Times, only 37 percent of eligible Britons voted to leave the European Union. The case is even clearer in the American election, which Donald J. Trump won despite having influenced only a quarter of the American electorate to support him.

Trump won because he triumphed

in a low-turnout election.

United States has exponentially low voting turnouts, but an increasing amount of profound issues in areas ranging from education, the criminal justice system, gun safety, health care, equality and so much more. When Americans are passionate about something, that range of passion bears no end. So why is it we constantly struggle with voting? It’s time for our democracy to adopt compulsory voting.

People tend to be more effective to change when we are forced to do something. Penalization for not voting is probably enough to motivate at least half of non-voters. I mean who wants to pay a fine you can avoid? Not I.

The strongest case for compulsory voting came in the final stages of the American presidential campaign, when the candidates became obsessed with turnout. For Democrats, this meant former President Obama was typically surrounded by celebrities while racing between rallies for Hillary Clinton. For Republicans, it transferred into a bizarrely anti-democratic spectacle: efforts by Republican state officials to suppress the minority vote. Trump encouraged his supporters to monitor selected communities for “voter fraud.” These actions — especially the suppression of the black vote — should be enough reason to mandate voting.

Does Trump truly care about minorities?

It’s hard to tell after watching this video. What are your thoughts on compulsory voting? If you don’t get anything from reading this post, the one thing I hope you do is take voting more seriously.

Remember, when we all vote, we all do better. Register to vote today. Deadline is Tuesday, October 9th.