The 24th Amendment to the Constitution was adopted in 1964 as part of the push for civil rights legislation of the 1950s/60s. It prohibits states from imposing a tax on voting, widely used in the former Confederacy (Unsurprisingly, 36 of the 38 states who initially ratified the amendment were from outside the South).
The Poll Tax was introduced after the Civil War and became widespread throughout the region by the early 20C. Basically, it was intended to keep poor people from voting and since almost all Black residents of the southern states were poor, it was an effective device to keep Blacks from political power. Supporters of this approach to politics have since moved on to other modes of voter suppression, but this particular technique is consigned to history.
Beyond the racist and classist aspects of this approach to democracy, there is a more fundamental point: we should want everyone to vote. As I have suggested in my new draft Constitution (portions of which have been posted here over the past few years), such a policy should be affirmatively stated in our basic document. However, there’s a way to make that happen even without a constitutional amendment/convention.
Voting in Presidential elections has averaged about 58% of the eligible population over the past 40 years. As we all know from anecdotal evidence and our own practice, voting in state/local and off-cycle elections can be considerably less. Although the vote in the 2020 Presidential election was the highest on record at 66%, there is a broader concern about what we might call “voter ennui.” There is widespread disenchantment with the political process, particularly among younger citizens. They need a bit of a boost to get them to the polls.
A few other countries mandate voting, notably Belgium, Australia, South Korea, Singapore, and much of Latin America. Such requirements are often nominal, with little enforcement mechanism. Several places, such as Venezuela, Italy, and Austria, have repealed requirements in the past 30 years.
A mere aspiration or admonition doesn’t seem practically effective. Criminalization of non-voting seems a step too far. Most countries that require voting impose only a small fine for failure to vote. A nominal penalty, however, implies that the duty is merely pro forma and not to be taken too seriously. Instead, the cost of non-voting should be significant, reflecting a broader belief in our shared responsibilities of citizenship and our need to act as a single political community.
Fortunately, we already have a mechanism in place to incent citizens to vote and a precedent that can be adapted to encourage voting: the tax code. We could increase current taxation rates by, say, 1% across the board (e.g., if you were in a 10% bracket, you would now be in an 11% bracket). Then, we would apply an offsetting citizenship credit to be supported by an official electronic certificate from your local registrar; the equivalent of an “I voted” sticker. Those who didn’t vote would thereby pay a meaningful additional tax.
By using the existing tax collection mechanism, we would minimize bureaucratic processes of enforcement. We would also ensure that the “fine” for not voting was graduated by income.
One additional twist would be to impose such a “citizenship” charge on non-citizens: a surtax, as it were, for the privilege of being a guest in this country.
As a matter of principle, taking steps to ensure that all citizens had an easy method of voting would have to be a prerequisite to such a proposal, so that this “non-poll tax” would be part of a broader set of policies and standards around registration, access, and methods for voting. Given the history of voter suppression, this would argue for a more extensive federalization of the voting process; a step I take more fully in my new draft constitution.
Indeed, we could think about this voting incentive as part of a larger package of principles and actions on the nature of democracy and citizenship in our society. Instead of being seen as an aggravation or obligation, voting should be characterized as an integral part of a package of participating in the direction of our society. You can ask those who have become US citizens how important the right to vote is to them. You could (theoretically) ask those who live in places where voting is a sham. One of my favorite slides in my lectures on the history of democracy shows the people of South Africa lined up by the hundreds for their first chance to vote for their own representatives after decades of struggling against apartheid.
Individually, many of us take it for granted. Some say voting doesn’t matter; that the two parties are pretty much the same (a rather more plausible argument a decade ago); that the system is broken so that democratic choices are stifled by a dysfunctional political process; that the world is going to hell anyway, so what does it matter. I will spare you the usual recital of democratic virtues in rebuttal. My response would be: “Too bad. Sorry that it’s a bit of inconvenience; but it’s part of the admission price for being here.” Indeed, it’s logical nonsense to have rights without responsibilities and such a pollitical system will sooner-or-later break down.
Societally, we don’t take the responsibility of voting seriously. Public discourse is full of mumbles. Those who promote voting are dismissed/ignored as lovely “do-gooders.” Voting needs to be brought back from the fringes of our political discourse. It should be fostered, facilitated, and celebrated.
Debating my proposal would certainly contribute to that. Implementing it would ensure that voting wasn’t merely a side-show to our culture as a country.
The Poll Tax was introduced after the Civil War and became widespread throughout the region by the early 20C. Basically, it was intended to keep poor people from voting and since almost all Black residents of the southern states were poor, it was an effective device to keep Blacks from political power. Supporters of this approach to politics have since moved on to other modes of voter suppression, but this particular technique is consigned to history.
Beyond the racist and classist aspects of this approach to democracy, there is a more fundamental point: we should want everyone to vote. As I have suggested in my new draft Constitution (portions of which have been posted here over the past few years), such a policy should be affirmatively stated in our basic document. However, there’s a way to make that happen even without a constitutional amendment/convention.
Voting in Presidential elections has averaged about 58% of the eligible population over the past 40 years. As we all know from anecdotal evidence and our own practice, voting in state/local and off-cycle elections can be considerably less. Although the vote in the 2020 Presidential election was the highest on record at 66%, there is a broader concern about what we might call “voter ennui.” There is widespread disenchantment with the political process, particularly among younger citizens. They need a bit of a boost to get them to the polls.
A few other countries mandate voting, notably Belgium, Australia, South Korea, Singapore, and much of Latin America. Such requirements are often nominal, with little enforcement mechanism. Several places, such as Venezuela, Italy, and Austria, have repealed requirements in the past 30 years.
A mere aspiration or admonition doesn’t seem practically effective. Criminalization of non-voting seems a step too far. Most countries that require voting impose only a small fine for failure to vote. A nominal penalty, however, implies that the duty is merely pro forma and not to be taken too seriously. Instead, the cost of non-voting should be significant, reflecting a broader belief in our shared responsibilities of citizenship and our need to act as a single political community.
Fortunately, we already have a mechanism in place to incent citizens to vote and a precedent that can be adapted to encourage voting: the tax code. We could increase current taxation rates by, say, 1% across the board (e.g., if you were in a 10% bracket, you would now be in an 11% bracket). Then, we would apply an offsetting citizenship credit to be supported by an official electronic certificate from your local registrar; the equivalent of an “I voted” sticker. Those who didn’t vote would thereby pay a meaningful additional tax.
By using the existing tax collection mechanism, we would minimize bureaucratic processes of enforcement. We would also ensure that the “fine” for not voting was graduated by income.
One additional twist would be to impose such a “citizenship” charge on non-citizens: a surtax, as it were, for the privilege of being a guest in this country.
As a matter of principle, taking steps to ensure that all citizens had an easy method of voting would have to be a prerequisite to such a proposal, so that this “non-poll tax” would be part of a broader set of policies and standards around registration, access, and methods for voting. Given the history of voter suppression, this would argue for a more extensive federalization of the voting process; a step I take more fully in my new draft constitution.
Indeed, we could think about this voting incentive as part of a larger package of principles and actions on the nature of democracy and citizenship in our society. Instead of being seen as an aggravation or obligation, voting should be characterized as an integral part of a package of participating in the direction of our society. You can ask those who have become US citizens how important the right to vote is to them. You could (theoretically) ask those who live in places where voting is a sham. One of my favorite slides in my lectures on the history of democracy shows the people of South Africa lined up by the hundreds for their first chance to vote for their own representatives after decades of struggling against apartheid.
Individually, many of us take it for granted. Some say voting doesn’t matter; that the two parties are pretty much the same (a rather more plausible argument a decade ago); that the system is broken so that democratic choices are stifled by a dysfunctional political process; that the world is going to hell anyway, so what does it matter. I will spare you the usual recital of democratic virtues in rebuttal. My response would be: “Too bad. Sorry that it’s a bit of inconvenience; but it’s part of the admission price for being here.” Indeed, it’s logical nonsense to have rights without responsibilities and such a pollitical system will sooner-or-later break down.
Societally, we don’t take the responsibility of voting seriously. Public discourse is full of mumbles. Those who promote voting are dismissed/ignored as lovely “do-gooders.” Voting needs to be brought back from the fringes of our political discourse. It should be fostered, facilitated, and celebrated.
Debating my proposal would certainly contribute to that. Implementing it would ensure that voting wasn’t merely a side-show to our culture as a country.
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