---
title: "Feel an Obligation to Vote"
description: "That's the percentage of Americans who see voting as their duty as a citizen."
date: "2007-07-24"
authors:
  - name: "Pew Research Center"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2007/07/24/feel-an-obligation-to-vote/"
---

# Feel an Obligation to Vote

Nine-in-ten Americans continue to see voting as a duty, and most say they feel guilty when they do not get a chance to vote. The vast majority that agrees that it is their “duty as a citizen to always vote” includes 96% of Republicans, 91% of Democrats and 88% of independents. More than two-thirds of Democrats (71%) and Republicans (68%) also say that they personally feel guilty when they do not get a chance to vote. Independents, by comparision, are somewhat less likely to feel guilt about not voting (60%). [Read More](https://www.pewresearch.org/pubs/434/trends-in-political-values-and-core-attitudes-1987-2007)