Compulsory Voting

[zeke]

Why should the vote of a maroon cancel out my informed vote?

MAROON? And you consider yourself the "educated" voter eh? LMAO. Fucking moron.

 

[Rotagilla]

Why should the vote of a maroon cancel out my informed vote?

MAROON? And you consider yourself the "educated" voter eh? LMAO. Fucking moron.

He was making a small joke, son..
either you've never watched warner bros. cartoons...or else suddenly you become a literalist when it suits your agenda..either way...ridiculous comment.

 

[Rotagilla]

No compulsory voting.
National voter ID to be issued after compulsory literacy/civics test.

 

[Star]

No thanks. Who other than Democrats wants to welcome legions of ignorant, uniformed voters to the polls? I certainly don't want to be obligated to their ignorant desires or choices. Why should the vote of a maroon cancel out my informed vote?

Yep! I agree that we should have an informed educated electorate.
IMO the country would be better off in so many ways if we offered a public education, K thru graduate studies - anything less would be a poll tax.

If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.…Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government; that, whenever things get so far wrong as to attract their notice, they may be relied on to set them right. — Thomas Jefferson

Never in the history of the developed world has an entire generation had to go into debt just to get an education and a job.

May. 22, 2014
By Thom Hartmann A...

<snip>

This is a morally criminal conspiracy that’s been going on for the past 33 years, ever since Ronald Reagan came to Washington, and it’s been a 3-step process. First, as governor of California, Reagan did away with that state’s free college education program, that let tens of thousands of Californians get an affordable and quality education. Others across the country followed his lead.

As soon as he came to Washington, Reagan continued his all-out assault on an affordable college education by slashing federal aid to higher education institutions across the country, including America’s land-grant colleges that had been providing affordable and quality education since they were first established by the Morrill Acts of 1862 and 1890.

When Reagan came in the office only about 20% of the cost of college was paid as tuition; the other 80% was paid by governments and endowments. Today the numbers are almost exactly reversed and instead of government picking up most of the cost of tuition it is the students themselves.

<snip>

And → The Taliban offered to hand over bin Laden
on a silver platter, but we said no, and now it’s cost us hundreds of billions of dollars. But what if George W. Bush had taken up the offer from the Taliban...

...if we had done that, we would have saved ourselves enough money to provide a free public college education to every single eligible student in America. As The Atlantic points out, according to Department of Education data, public colleges across America collected $62.6 billion in tuition from undergrads in 2012.

IOW's with compulsory voting, with or without your illegal poll tax, we wouldn't have wasted hundreds of billions on unnecessary wars but-----but could have had the educated electorate you desire... many times over.
.

 

[Unkotare]

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Do you think it's time to start talking about compulsory voting?


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NO.

 

[norwegen]

Yea, we need compulsory voting. Because that's what liberty is. Compulsion.

 

[Rikurzhen]

Places with mandatory voting also have less wealth inequality, lower levels of political corruption and higher levels of satisfaction with the way democracy is working than voluntary systems."

They're also far more homogeneous in terms of population, so their shared values are higher and there is less variance around issues.

What are your plans to ethnically cleanse the US population so that it matches the population homogeneity of these other nations which you hold up as good examples for the US to follow?

 

[Rikurzhen]

Why should the vote of a maroon cancel out my informed vote?

MAROON? And you consider yourself the "educated" voter eh? LMAO. Fucking moron.

Yeah, you stupid fuck. Have you never watched cartoons? Roger Rabbit. This is old slang, as in "What a maroon."

 

[TemplarKormac]

The right to vote includes the right not to. So no.

 

[Missourian]

Do all liberals hate freedom?

Compulsory vote? Good Grief!

Just frog march them to the polls at gun point. WTG.

 

[Missourian]

Why should the vote of a maroon cancel out my informed vote?

MAROON? And you consider yourself the "educated" voter eh? LMAO. Fucking moron.

Yeah, you stupid fuck. Have you never watched cartoons? Roger Rabbit. This is old slang, as in "What a maroon."

"What an im-ba-zle...what a maroon!" Zeke is a youngster. Make a Power Rangers reference if you want him to get it.

 

[Star]

Places with mandatory voting also have less wealth inequality, lower levels of political corruption and higher levels of satisfaction with the way democracy is working than voluntary systems."

They're also far more homogeneous in terms of population, so their shared values are higher and there is less variance around issues.

What are your plans to ethnically cleanse the US population so that it matches the population homogeneity of these other nations which you hold up as good examples for the US to follow?

While I would like to see more voter participation, lots more, I can think of many legitimate reasons for not making voting mandatory - but homogeneity is a ridiculous reason. On the world spectrum of diversity, the USA is pretty homogenous.

"In Brazil, people who fail to vote in an election are barred from obtaining a passport and subject to other restrictions until settling their situation before an electoral court or after they have voted in the two most recent elections."
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[Freewill]

When I decide not to vote it is my vote.

NO, to forcing people to vote. If they are too lazy, too disinterested, too stupid, won't vote for their parties' candidate or just want to protest that there really isn't a choice, then I say they should stay home and let that be their vote.

 

[jon_berzerk]

last time i checked it was a free country

what else you want to mandate

--LOL

 

[Unkotare]

Corruption/criminal activity exists in every walk of life, but----- but "Places with mandatory voting also have less wealth inequality, lower levels of political corruption and higher levels of satisfaction with the way democracy is working than voluntary systems."
.

Bullshit. 13 countries in Latin America have mandatory voting. Not exactly a region known for a lack of inequality or political corruption, to say the least.

 

[BoSoxGal]

Before making voting compulsory, let's try making Election Day a federal holiday and see how that affects voter turnout.

 

[candycorn]

.
In this years mid-term election, a pathetic 36.6 percent voted.
In Australia about 92% of eligible voters voted in their last election.
Do you think it's time to start talking about compulsory voting?

The Economist explains
Where is it compulsory to vote?
Sep 19th 2013

<snip>

...in some countries skipping the polling booth can land you in trouble. In Australia non-voters can expect a letter from the electoral commission demanding an explanation for their absenteeism. If they don’t have a good excuse they are fined A$20 ($19). If they fail to pay they can end up in court, where the fine is upped to A$170, plus court fees. Refuse to cough up and they face jail. A survey by Britain’s electoral commission in 2006 categorised three other countries as having “very strict” compulsory-voting regimes. In Brazil and Peru, non-voters are banned from carrying out various administrative transactions (Brazilians cannot apply for passports or sit professional exams, in theory at least), as well as facing small fines. In Singapore, non-voters have their names removed from the electoral roll—which many of them are presumably not too worried by. A host of other countries have varyingly strict rules on voting, along with some curious get-outs. Illiterate people are excused in Brazil and Ecuador; soldiers are excluded in Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala and Lebanon. The elderly are off the hook in several countries. And in Bolivia, where voting is notionally compulsory, married people are enfranchised from the age of 18, whereas singletons must wait until they are 21.

Proponents of mandatory voting argue that democracy is too important to be optional. Others say that compulsory self-determination is something of a contradiction in terms.

<snip>
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No. Those who choose not to vote do so at their peril however. Often the law of big numbers kicks in and enough people are in the middle of the road to modulate any large swings of power and the man on the street is usually not directly affected by national votes so they can get by not voting. Every blue moon however...you're affected.

Gore wins in 2000 and you don't have Iraq, 6,000 Americans are not dead (maybe the brother or the Sister of the guy who didn't vote). The margin was a few hundred people if you discount the butterfly ballot which delivered the election for Bush.

 

[OriginalShroom]

Having the Freedom to vote also means that you have the Freedom not to vote.

It really is that simple.

 

[AKACL]

First all voters should have to prove they're citizens of the United States before they're allowed to vote.

Second every voter should have to prove they paid income taxes before they're allowed to vote.

Third every voter should have to pass a test on their knowledge of the Bill Of Rights before they are allowed to vote.

 

[hjmick]

Compulsory Voting: Because your government forcing you to buy a product or pay a fine wasn't enough...