Obama Floats Compulsory Voting

[Jayhawker Soule]

See here and elsewhere.

What do you think? (Your vote is voluntary.)

 

[YmirGF]

In my view, voting is compulsory and make sure I go vote -- for the most part... There are times though, like in our last election on the island, for our local Island Trust, where I seriously thought I would not vote as it didn't really matter as all the candidates were clearly left wing. That said, as we approached the voting place I quipped, "Think of it this way, we are to select the least loathsome Leftist." It worked for me and yes, both my choices won.

I guess, for me, at least, though I do consider voting a must I am a bit bothered by having it as a requirement as you will end up with a huge number of uninformed voters checking names they know nothing about. I say, let it remain voluntary.

 

[Iti oj]

i voted other becuase i want to remove the need to register to vote. should be automatic at 18.

 

[YmirGF]

i voted other becuase i want to remove the need to register to vote. should be automatic at 18.

Here in Canukistan, we have to register to vote and produce our ballot thingy that is mailed to us, with picture ID, before you are given an actual ballot to check off. I've never heard a single person here ever say that they thought that was a severe hardship and stopped people from voting.

 

[Revoltingest]

I vote <no>.
No good is served by giving government yet another power over us.
If someone doesn't care enuf to vote, is there vote going to improve things?

 

[Laika]

Voted No. Levels of Turnout are a good indicator of the health of a democracy. low turnout means there is something wrong.

 

[gsa]

I think that you should be required to register and submit a ballot. You can decline to actually vote, but this way we can easily track registration and count ballots without having to worry about, say, voter fraud. Republicans are so concerned about voter fraud you'd think they'd be all over this.

 

[YmirGF]

Voted No. Levels of Turnout are a good indicator of the health of a democracy. low turnout means there is something wrong.

I disagree. It simply shows, accurately, that not everyone is particularly interested in politics.

 

[Laika]

I disagree. It simply shows, accurately, that not everyone is particularly interested in politics.

exactly. the question then is how do you get people interested in politics and show that democracy matters.

 

[Revoltingest]

I also see compulsory voting as the thin edge of the wedge in government's imposing ever more duties to serve them upon us. Obama is friendly to the military draft & compulsory national service. He's not alone...it's popular among Democrats.
Universal National Service Act - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

I think that you should be required to register and submit a ballot.

Why?

 

[gsa]

Why?

To combat voter fraud and streamline participation. I'm also for evoting and vote by mail.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

To combat voter fraud and streamline participation.

Best I can tell, it facilitates neither.

Do you have any evidence at all that a country such as Australia experiences proportionately less voter fraud?

 

[Altfish]

I've no problem with compulsory voting so long as one option is...

None of the above

Then a protest vote would be available to all.

 

[Iti oj]

I've no problem with compulsory voting so long as one option is...

None of the above

Then a protest vote would be available to all.

hm.......

 

[gsa]

Best I can tell, it facilitates neither.

Do you have any evidence at all that a country such as Australia experiences proportionately less voter fraud?

It certainly makes it easier to track and prove voter fraud, and harder to do it. It also increases participation and gives people a wider window of time to vote.

Are you opposed to it? If so, why?

 

[Koldo]

See here and elsewhere.

What do you think? (Your vote is voluntary.)

In my country, voting is compulsory. Speaking from personal experience, voting should NOT be compulsory. Democracy benefits from informed voters who comprehend the consequence of their choices. Compulsory voting is not a way to achieve that.

 

[Brickjectivity]

I believe in the right to disappear, to have an alias and to not be tracked by the government. The government has invented the need to track us.

 

[Koldo]

I've no problem with compulsory voting so long as one option is...

None of the above

Then a protest vote would be available to all.

In my country such a choice exists, but it is disregarded when counting the votes. Not really an effective way to protest.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

It certainly makes it easier to track and prove voter fraud, and harder to do it.

Interesting. See here.