# Do You Have a Duty to Vote? **URL:** **By** Jason Brennan **Published:** November 9, 2012 --- Preliminary reports from the 2012 presidential election show that 57.5% of eligible voters in the United States turned out to vote, but what about the 42.5% that stayed home? Should they have voted? Is there a moral obligation to vote? Jason Brennan is Assistant Professor of Ethics, Economics, and Public Policy at Georgetown University. He is the author of _Libertarianism: What Everyone Needs to Know_ (2012), _The Ethics of Voting_ (2011), and _A Brief History of Liberty_ (2010). Brennan also blogs at [Bleeding Heart Libertarians](http://bleedingheartlibertarians.com/). Produced by Evan Banks and Aaron Powell.