American voters in today's society care about United States issues and vote in hopes of forming a greater nation. Other citizens of the United States do not voluntarily participate in voting. The reason people don't vote can range from feeling intimidated by the electoral process to simply not caring about current issues. It's hard to justify citizens not voting by saying it's better for America to have fewer opinions from the public. It is also difficult to justify that we should force citizens to vote even if they are not educated about the policy in question. The right of a democracy is to allow citizens free access to vote and speak on behalf of the people. Democracy also holds the right that allows citizens not to vote if they believe it would be better to abstain from doing so. The key is to find a balance and be able to educate groups of Americans who don't vote. We must allow these citizens to better understand the power they have to change current issues, without forcing the voting process. Without citizen votes, voices cannot be heard and: “We… know that the level of voter population has been steadily declining since the early 1960s” (Austin Ramney p. 91). Participation has continued to decline over the past decades, and due to the lack of voting, there is a lack of diverse opinions that could ultimately help the country take a better direction. Of this group of people it has been said that five categories make up this population: chronic non-voters (often coming from families who have never voted), those who believe they have no say in government decisions, young people, those who they feel intimidated by the voting process and those who simply don't care (Curtis B. Gans). Evidently, the first... means of paper... that not voting makes you less of a citizen in a democracy. Other leaders don't care whether citizens vote or not: “I won't shed real or political tears if people don't care enough to vote. I don't think we need to make things easy for apathetic and lazy people. I would be extremely happy if no one in the United States voted except people who think about the issues, have made up their minds and want to vote…” (former senator, Sam Ervin). The idea that people who don't vote in elections are lazy is not well supported. Many Americans live in communities where the political education system is very poor and just because one wants to grow up in an environment where they were deprived of political engagement does not mean that their vote is meaningless. Voting needs to be easier to learn and access real facts for any American in any location or educational situation.