Is it a Catholic obligation to vote?

[jjb5985]

I was wondering if we as Catholics are bound by sin to vote. I moved to my current address several months ago and never registered to vote here. By the time I thought about it, it was too late. Is there any sin if one does not vote? Whether by failure to act promptly or just flat-out refusal? Thanks.

 

[Michelle_Arnold]

Yes, there is a moral obligation for Catholics to vote. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states:

Submission to authority and co-responsibility for the common good make it morally obligatory to pay taxes, to exercise the right to vote, and to defend one’s country
(CCC 2240, emphasis added).

However, just as with other moral obligations, sincere forgetfulness mitigates personal culpability. If you did not knowingly and deliberately neglect to exercise your civic responsibility, you have not committed a sin.