AP English Language — Reasoning and Organization — Writing Drill 1

The following is a draft of a student argumentative essay on mandatory voting, written for a civics class. [1] Voter turnout in the United States is among the lowest of any established democracy. [2] In the 2020 presidential election — a year with unusually high engagement — only 67 percent of eligible voters cast ballots. [3] In midterm elections, turnout regularly falls below 50 percent. [4] Some countries have addressed this problem through compulsory voting laws, which require eligible citizens to participate in elections or face a penalty. [5] The United States should adopt a similar system. [6] Mandatory voting would make electoral outcomes more representative of the full electorate. [7] Currently, non-voters skew younger, poorer, and less educated than voters — groups whose policy preferences often differ significantly from those who do vote. [8] When these groups are systematically absent from the electorate, elected officials have less incentive to address their concerns. [9] Mandatory voting would correct this imbalance. [10] Mandatory voting also has a practical track record. [11] Australia has required voting since 1924 and maintains turnout above 90 percent. [12] Researchers who have studied Australian elections have found that compulsory voting reduced the wealth gap in political representation and increased attention to the policy concerns of lower-income voters. [13] Belgium, Luxembourg, and several Latin American countries have similar systems with comparable results. [14] Critics argue that mandatory voting violates freedom of conscience — the right not to participate in a process one finds illegitimate or corrupt. [15] This objection has some force. [16] But most compulsory voting systems address it by providing a "none of the above" option or allowing voters to submit a blank ballot. [17] The law requires presence, not preference. [18] Freedom of conscience is preserved; only abstention is restricted. [19] The objection that mandatory voting is coercive is real but overstated. [20] Every functioning democracy requires participation in certain civic obligations — jury duty, taxation, census participation. [21] Voting is the most fundamental of these obligations, and treating it as purely optional has produced an electorate that systematically underrepresents large portions of the population. [22] Mandatory voting is not a perfect solution. [23] It is a better one.