It’s no secret that the American voter turnout during every election season is abysmal. But is forcing Americans to vote—punishable by law—the right solution to the problem?
President Barack Obama floated the idea of mandatory voting in the United States while speaking to a civic group in Cleveland on Wednesday.
“If everybody voted, then it would completely change the political map in this country,” Obama said, calling the move “potentially transformative.” Not only that, he said, but universal voting would “counteract money more than anything.”
So how bad are Americans at voting? Pretty bad, according to the United States Election Project and the Pew Research Center.
Less than 37 percent of eligible voters cast their ballots during the 2014 midterm elections, says the Election Project, which made it the lowest turnout since 1942.
That’s 144 million eligible Americans who didn’t vote.
