I feel the need to ask again . . .
Why shouldn't we be required to vote in a democracy? Assuming we had much better means of making voting accessible for everyone, what if US citizens had to pay a fine for not voting? Is part of our right to choose the right not to make a choice?
4 comments:
i feel that if it was mandatory from the beginning w/a fine incurred for opting out, there wouldn't be a problem; but to impose it now would rebel against the mindset of "freedom" in today's america. we feel our one of our basic rights as an american is that there's not much we "have" to do, but that's not all that true. we have to pay taxes, we have to serve jury duty; i think if voting was required it would be one of the least burdensome obligations we'd face.
Do you make voting in your local school board elections required as well? Or would it just be required for presidential elections? If so, why? Or is the cutoff line somewhere in between; where and why? Should I have some way to prove that I actually voted for someone, rather than just walked into the booth and pulled the lever on an empty ballot, and should I be fined if I do the latter (after all, that's the same as not voting)? Even if I dislike all the candidates? And should you be able to prove that you voted intelligently and with full knowledge of the issues, and not just a vote at random? And if not, how is a collection of random voters better for democracy than a smaller subset of informed and motivated ones?
On another note, you could really only make it mandatory if it were declared a national holiday as well. It's not enough to just just it to a weekend day, as has been suggested.
Voter Apathy is not a problem that can be rectified with a mandate.
Post a Comment