voter turnout. In contrast, having the option to vote by mail, for example, helps to enfranchise many people, including those who can't get off of work or have difficulty traveling to cast their ballots. 78% of citizens preferred vote-by-mail in one survey. The Cost of Voting Index estimates how much more difficult the voting experience is on average in states around the U.S. Disenfranchisement The disenfranchisement of voters due to age, citizenship, or criminal record are among the more recent examples of ways that elections can be subverted by changing who is allowed to vote. For example, 16-17 year-olds can't vote in most parts of the world. Some democracies remove voting rights for some long-term prisoners, but the U.S. remains the only democracy to allow many states to bar citizens from voting for life for past criminal offenses (felonies) despite evidence that voting reduces the risk of reoffending (a vestige of Jim Crow laws designed to keep black people from voting). Even when Floridians voted to overturn such an usual policy in 2018, the state legislature passed a law requiring all outstanding fines and fees be paid first before being eligible to vote, amounting to a modern-day poll tax. The debate over who should have a say extends to people on the path towards citizenship among other groups who may not be eligible to vote. Partial or full disenfranchisement of voters, like voter suppression, narrows the decision-makers to those using these autocratic tactics to grow their power. 1996 law banning non-citizens from voting in federal elections. 38 states have at one point allowed non-citizens to vote. Al Gore would've been president had Floridans not banned felons from voting. Duty to vote Having voting as optional, for example, weakens the cultural norms around voting by not elevating it to greater importance. Peer pressure and a sense of belonging are powerful incentives to do something collectively. A voting culture can grow with, for example, universal voting, reinforcing how voting is valued, expected and a centerpiece of a place's culture. Australia found that during an election that was optional around gay marriage (unlike most other elections there), voter turnout still reached 80%. Modern proposals include requiring that every selection have a 'none of the above' option, allow a wide range of valid excuses for not voting including for conscientious objectors and charging a low, non-compounding, non-criminal fee for those who don't vote or