100% Democracy: The Case for Universal Voting

Today’s headlines are filled with arguments over restrictions on the right to vote and attempts to expand it. Miles Rapoport, formerly CT’s Secretary of State and E.J. Dionne, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institute, advocate for making a commitment to a ‘100% Democracy’, an election process where every citizen has the right to vote and full opportunities to do so—but also the duty to vote, a requirement to participate in our national choices.

Join Rapoport and Dionne (who will be joining us virtually) for an in-person discussion about their new book, 100% Democracy: The Case for Universal Voting. The program will be moderated by CT Secretary of the State, Denise Merrill and kicks off Book Talks, a new program series at Connecticut’s Old State House.

The U.S. lags behind other democracies, with only 66.8% of eligible voters participating in the record-turnout election of 2020 while twenty-six countries around the world require participation in elections. Australia, for instance, has required citizens to cast a ballot since 1924 and had over 90% voter turnout in their last major election. Rapoport and Dionne ask: if Americans must pay taxes and serve on juries, why not ask—or require—every American to vote? Is it time for the United States to take a major leap forward and recognize voting as both a fundamental civil right and a solemn civic duty?

This program is pre-recorded.

Learn more about the Connecticut Democracy Center’s Civic Learning Week programming at ctdemocracycenter.org/civic-learning-week.