Voting: A Right, A Privilege, or A Responsibility?
When Americans talk about their democracy, they typically emphasize the importance of the right to vote. But the fact is that, unlike other democratic rights protected in the First Amendment, voting rights do not have clear constitutional protections. State legislatures have the right to appoint electors in presidential races without holding elections, for example, and states can enact a variety of policies that directly or indirectly infringe on suffrage rights. While strengthening voting rights in the Constitution would seem like a logical step, there's a potential political barrier: confusion about the meaning of "right."
This essay invites readers to question whether the ability to vote should be a right, a privilege, or a responsibility. For the ease of readership, I will define the necessary terms:
- Privilege (n): An immunity or benefit enjoyed only by a person beyond the advantaged of most.
- Right (n): That which is due to anyone by just claim, legal guarantees, or moral principles.
- Responsibility (n): Being answerable or accountable for something within one's power, control, or management.
At first glance, it's easy to view these terms as mutually exclusive. From their definitions, we can see that what is a "privilege" cannot be a right since rights are enjoyed by everyone, while a privilege is reserved for a select group. Likewise, it's impossible for an individual to take on the burden of responsibility if they lack to the right to vote in the first place.
Despite this initial judgment, many people view the ability to vote as all three simultaneously and weigh "right" after "privilege" or "responsibility." For example, many believe the ability to vote is a privilege granted to today's eligible voters by those who fought for it in the past either through war, grassroots movements, or legislative battles. These struggles have kept the United States as an independent nation and granted us the right to vote with the passage of the 15th, 19th, 24th, and 26th amendment, in addition to the legislative victory of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. From this perspective, it is a privilege to live in the United States, standing on the shoulders of these past giants, and we have a responsibility to vote because it honors those who have put their lives on the line to protect it.
Indeed a study conducted in 2006 by Peter D. Hart Research Associates found far most participants in a series of focus groups saw voting as a responsibility or a privilege more than as a right. Many categorized voting primarily as a privilege because previous generations had fought for it and other countries don't enjoy the same freedom. The plurality of participants saw it primarily as a responsibility because it highlights the importance of choosing the government. Many of these participants chose not to classify it primarily as a "right" because the word "right" suggested to them a sense of entitlement.
Many participants also believed that fraud was a bigger problem than disenfranchisement. Although these beliefs are not based in reality (proven cases of voter fraud are miniscule compared to clear cases of denial of suffrage), they say something very important about the general mindset of American voters. When it comes to voting, "right" is a dangerous word since it suggests the ability to vote has simply been given to you without a fight -- and things that can make voting harder but prevent fraud like voter registration laws, requirements for photo identification and inconvenient polling places are minor compared to the sacrifices of past generations. In this mindset, anyone who might not vote due to such barriers is not accepting responsibility for how important it is and not recognizing what a privilege it is to have the right to vote.
As is obvious from the Peter Hart study, a common misconception is the word "right" denoting a sense of entitlement. People who hold this view shy away from considering the ability to vote a right because it suggests it has simply been given to us without historical struggles, thereby demeaning the individuals who have laid their lives on the line to forge and preserve our freedoms.