Voting Right

The rights of suffrage have come a long way since when voting first began. When voting first began only white, land-owning, males could vote. After many years and the efforts of many people, voting in the United States is open to anyone over the age of 18, except convicted felons. This privilege has now been taken for granted by many people, because they don’t think that their vote would change anything, or they just don’t want to vote. Some people think the only way to solve this problem is to legally require all people over 18 to participate in the voting process. I believe that this is a bad idea for many reasons such as, the immaturity of some voters, the chaos at the polls, and it could shame the history of suffrage.
I believe that making voting legally required by everyone over 18 is a bad idea because of the immaturity of some voters. If the repercussions of not voting were large enough these people wouldn’t learn about the people running for office or their policies, they would vote for anyone. As we discussed in class many people vote for the first name they see on the ballot, which is in alphabetical order, knowing nothing about the person or their policies. This could in turn get many people elected into office that wouldn’t have been elected if voting wasn’t required. This would also be an unfair advantage for the person with their name at the beginning of the ballot. They wouldn’t even have to campaign themselves, because they know that people will vote the first name that they see.
Another reason I don’t believe voting should be required is because of the chaos at the voting polls. During elections the voting polls are chaotic already. Just imagine everyone over the age of 18 having to vote. More voting polls would have to be opened and possibly more days for