I think that this is a great public forum topic: it relates to a current event that will educate students on some of the nuanc

13NFL1-Compulsory Voting
Page 113 of 163
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THE RIGHT TO NOT VOTE IS A FUNDAMENTAL DEMOCRATIC RIGHT PROTECTED BY
THE CONSTITUTION.
Jeffrey A. Bloomberg 95, "Protecting the Right Not to Vote from Voter Purge Statues, Fordham Law Review, Volume 64, Issue 3, 1995. As the process presently operates, a voter has the option to abstainif he supports no candidate A voter may view abstention as a vehiclefor expressing dissatisfaction" Protest nonvoting is consistent withthe basic tenets of political behaviorist theory."Most states, however, do not permit voters to exercise aright not tovote without penalty' While no law deliberately intends to punish avoter for choosing not to vote in a given election, many states attemptto maintain accurate voter registration rolls and prevent election fraudby using voter purge statutes that remove voters from the registry whofail to vote in a certain number of elections. 3 This practice infringesupon a voter's right not to vote and further discourages those alreadydisenchanted with the political process" Citizens should not beforced to reregister to vote unless they move out of the voting jurisdiction. Voting is a fundamental right that an individual should enjoyfree from unnecessary governmental intervention' 5 The threat of being purged for failure to vote forces an individual either to go to thepolls and vote fora candidate not of his or her choice or to reregister.Moreover, exercising the right not to vote may also deserve high tierconstitutional protection because abstention involves a form of political expression protected under the First Amendment. 6 Not only dovoter purge statutes violate the right not to vote, they are also an inefficient means of preventing election fraud. Voter purge statutes fail toidentify ineligible voters and wrongfully purge those who are stilleligible.'7

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