Hmmm

[legalmoose]

Compulsory Voting, an idea whose time has come. :)

Comments

[robco.livejournal.com]

I dunno, it sounds nice in theory, but in a free society, shouldn't people be allowed to exercise their right not to vote?

[legalmoose]

Being a fan of aggressive government, I think the advantages outweigh the disadvantages here. We don't allow people to opt out of a duty like paying taxes, why should we allow them to opt out of the decision making process over choosing those who'll impose those same taxes?

[robco.livejournal.com]

Being more of a libertarian and not a fan of agressive government at all, I'd disagree. If someone doesn't want to bother to get out and vote, will they really educate themselves on the issues at hand to make an informed decision?

It's a nice idea, but not nice enough to see someone get fined, thrown in jail or have their credit destroyed because they didn't want to vote. Paying taxes and voting are different. Voters do have some control over the level of taxation. You can vote on ballot measures regarding taxes and elect government officials who will raise or lower taxes. If they don't care either way, who are you or I to say that they have to.

Basically, you can force people to vote, you can't force them to give a shit.

[33mhz.livejournal.com]

shouldn't people be allowed to exercise their right not to vote?

No, especially because you are allowed to go to the polling place, request a ballot, and turn it in blank. (Or simply not select anything in the e-voting form.) If records were kept of who voted for whom, there would be an argument for making the vote be non-compulsory, but that's not the case.

Compulsory voting would also nicely solve issues of voter registration and disenfranchisment. Right now the burden is often on the individual citizen to prove that they're eligible to vote. I'd much rather have it the other way around.

I would love to see compulsory voting and federal-level regulations for conducting elections which streamline the process of absentee voting for those living abroad, along with electronic voting machines with an open specification developed using public funds, with security and usability being a top priority in their design.

Ah, dreams.

[robco.livejournal.com]

Turning in a blank ballot is a waste of time. There are other solutions to voter registration and disenfranchisement. Here in CA, I registered at the DMV when I got my license. It was pretty painless. Getting an absentee ballot is pretty easy as well.

Becoming registered and voting is pretty easy these days. If someone isn't going to bother to do it, I'm not sure I would want them to vote.

Forced participation just doesn't seem very democratic.

[legalmoose]

Well, vote or pay a fine. I don't know that I'm ready to go all Puff-Daddy on 'Merica quite yet. :D

[jss]

I am.

[hylandr.livejournal.com]

I think it's a good idea but I think I'd have a few amendments to it, like a longer voting period (i.e. more than one day of voting for those who maybe sick or something). I'm sure there would be a lot of "tweeking" to do to the system to get it right. I'd also love to see the electoral college gone.

[avironneur.livejournal.com]

THANK YOU I am in full agreement..if Australia of all countries can institute compulsory voting (granted its results in Austrlalia...*cough* John Howard *cough* are less than optimal) the practise still represents the responsible exercise of what in my opinion is more of a civic duty than an option.

[apeliotes.livejournal.com]

Dear God, no! Democratic forms of government are bad enough--but painfully necessary--let's not make them worse.

Voting is neither a responsibility, nor a right. One has the civic duty to obey one's leaders insofar as the conscience allows, but none to select them. Voting in this country is meant to give the people the impression that it has some say in who takes office.