Is it right to make voting mandatory?

[Matteo]

Australia, for example, has mandatory voting, providing you are eighteen or over. Once you reach a certain age (I think it's 70 or 80), voting becomes optional. But if you're in between, you have to vote. America, on the other hand, makes voting voluntary, regardless of age.

Is it right to make voting mandatory? I know many people who could not care less about our country's political sphere, so they see voting as a chore and put no stock in who they choose. This is pretty perilous because you've essentially got people voting aimlessly, therefore rendering the entire electoral process as pretty... flawed, for lack of better word. Those who vote in the US tend to vote because they want to, but then again, its electoral system has issues too.

Your two cents?

[Viazon]

Yeah, i think it's pointless to make voting mandatory. When people vote, you want them to vote because they actually want to vote. As you said, most people may just be aimlessly voting and not caring who they vote for. That's no way to decide something of such importance.

[prophet]

No. If you don't want to vote, you don't have to vote. Should be that simple really, I personally don't vote and being forced too would hardly peak my interest in the ballache that is politics.

[DBSoT]

With the larhe collection of morons out there, I would be scared if voting was mandatory in the US. Not only should it not be mandatory, there should also be a screening process. There are intelligent people in all walks of life and those are the people who should vote.

[prophet]

With the larhe collection of morons out there, I would be scared if voting was mandatory in the US. Not only should it not be mandatory, there should also be a screening process. There are intelligent people in all walks of life and those are the people who should vote.

What? You'd determine who the smart people were and only allow them to vote?! So what happens to these hypothetical 'dumb' people? Should they go fuck themselves?

[SortaCreative]

With the larhe collection of morons out there, I would be scared if voting was mandatory in the US. Not only should it not be mandatory, there should also be a screening process. There are intelligent people in all walks of life and those are the people who should vote.

What? You'd determine who the smart people were and only allow them to vote?! So what happens to these hypothetical 'dumb' people? Should they go fuck themselves?

Same thing is happening now anyway, they don't vote anyway.

[PorkChop]

With the larhe collection of morons out there, I would be scared if voting was mandatory in the US. Not only should it not be mandatory, there should also be a screening process. There are intelligent people in all walks of life and those are the people who should vote.

What? You'd determine who the smart people were and only allow them to vote?! So what happens to these hypothetical 'dumb' people? Should they go fuck themselves?

Same thing is happening now anyway, they don't vote anyway.

The dumb people just vote BNP.

[SortaCreative]

With the larhe collection of morons out there, I would be scared if voting was mandatory in the US. Not only should it not be mandatory, there should also be a screening process. There are intelligent people in all walks of life and those are the people who should vote.

What? You'd determine who the smart people were and only allow them to vote?! So what happens to these hypothetical 'dumb' people? Should they go fuck themselves?

Same thing is happening now anyway, they don't vote anyway.

The dumb people just vote BNP.

The problem with mandatory voting is that in current systems that allow for extreme parties to run could potentially cause some damage.

I don't know if mandatory voting is the answer but it should be strongly encouraged that you vote.

There are places in the world where you don't have a say. Where if you disagree with the established order you will be killed. You will lose your life. Here, in the UK, you have a say. A journalist can disagree with the Prime Minister and he won't be shot.

I understand voters apathy though. I really do. The current system does nothing to encourage smart, enthusiastic voting. The act of voting itself is a chore. Having to go somewhere, line up, fill out a piece of paper you know isn't going to change a damn thing on it's own. But imagine is no one votes. Half the reason why the current system doesn't work for everyone is because they don't say it doesn't work for them.

Simply not showing up doesn't tell anyone anything. It allows the same groups of people to vote for the same parties over and over and nothing ever changes.

Imagine the change that would be brought on by a (random percentage) 50% turnout that spoiled their ballots and abstained from voting for one of the candidates presented. Right now it doesn't change because those voices are silent.

I do understand that you may not want to vote for Labour or Conservative or Liberal Democrats. There seems to be little room for anyone else to join the race but that's because the status quo is perpetuated by silence.

The entire voting system needs to be revamped. There needs to be a modern way to register your votes. We live in an age where a massive majority of homes are connected to the internet or people carry around smart phones. It needs to be made convenient. Change won't happen over night but if everyone spoke up, cast their votes and said they were not happy then alternative political parties could rise up and claim those dissenting votes. Change happens then. If it doesn't we're not a democracy. Simple as.

Keeping quiet doesn't do a damn thing for anyone. All it allows for is the two major parties to take turns in appeasing their corporate masters and wage war on whoever they feel like waging war on that term.

[DBSoT]

With the larhe collection of morons out there, I would be scared if voting was mandatory in the US. Not only should it not be mandatory, there should also be a screening process. There are intelligent people in all walks of life and those are the people who should vote.

What? You'd determine who the smart people were and only allow them to vote?! So what happens to these hypothetical 'dumb' people? Should they go fuck themselves?

First off I didn't call them dumb, but there are a strong collection of people who do not understand the issues they are voting for. I just believe that people should be required to renew their voting license every year by taking a very basic test that asks them to understand what each issue means and what side each candidate is on. The biggest issue in any voting system is the strong ignorance people have to what the issues are, leading to uninformed people voting on them. I admit that I am ignorant on some issues and I should not be voting on that major issue if I have no idea what I am voting for. Morons was clearly a bad choice of words and for that I apologize.

[ShaneOfan]

I say make everyone answer a 20 question test. It gives you issues and you pick the answer that best fits your views. It tallies your answers up and matches you with the candidate that best meets your views. Congratulations that is who you voted for. Maybe just tell you who you matched up best with and if you want to pick one of the other fellas anyway then that is okay. I know that there is way to much room for corruption there and people could easily screw with the machines, but I'm talking in an ideal world. Then again in an ideal world everyone would understand the issues and vote how they should anyway.

But in the real world, I don't see how making people vote is a good thing. Even the nations that give you a tax credit to vote, it's sort of pointless. There are two dangers with making people vote. 1-People will vote just to vote and wont actually know the issues. No one should be elected leader via "eanie meanie miny mo." 2-If a country has the power to outright FORCE everyone to vote they have the power to FORCE you to vote how they say. That and what of the rights of the people? There are religions that don't allow for participating in elections, or at least strongly discourage it. If they tried to do that in the US it could violate our freedom of speech.

[AkydefGoldberg]

Mandatory voting does nothing other than guarantee the obvious, a high turn out.

People will just sigh, shrug their shoulders, go the polling station, throw a quick X to a name and twaddle off.

Best thing to do is to re-invigorate interest in politics by like Taj said, open new ways to vote and it's the job of politicians to try to bring information to the masses in less gobble-de-gook language and simplify it I'd say. Be specific in saying if people vote for this person, this what that person will do. When I vote, I don't really tend to have a big idea on what councillors will do locally only just what they (the party) are doing nationally.

[Twister]

Definitely don't think mandatory voting is the answer. Voting should be encouraged, but it shouldn't be compulsory. People will resent being told they have to vote and as a result may not take their vote seriously, they will just treat it like something that they need to get out of the way before going about the rest of their day with little thought put into it.

They could really try to make voting easier though, to actually register to vote is a bit of a faff tbh. In this day and age it would be great if you could vote online or by text or something and I bet more people would be willing to vote that way rather than queuing up at a designated polling station. Not sure how that would work realistically but in an ideal world...

[SortaCreative]

Not sure how that would work realistically but in an ideal world...

I could work. It's not even about an ideal world.

Right now you can do pretty much everything to do with you and the government online. Applying for benefits, passports, birth certificates, everything majorly important that could be open to fraud can be done online. It should be the same for voting too.

[HFX]

Living in the countries we do, voting is our right and privilege. I do wish more people would vote here in Canada but I also think it's stupid to force people to vote. You want people to vote because they want to exercise their right to do so not because they are being forced into doing it. Also regulating who can vote is incredibly stupid. Ya we have stupid people voting but they are free to do so and I would fight for their right.

And DBSoT Elected officials need to represent the citizens of their country not just the select few that some people deem worthy of voting. Some university professor, judge or CEO would most likely have VERY different concerns when voting than say a typical tradesman, farmer or the guy working at the grocery store just to get by. Why should we put our respective countries futures into the hands of these "smart" people when our countries are so diverse and so many people have different concerns and cares. What we need is more people coming out to vote instead of less, especially youth.

[Twister]

Not sure how that would work realistically but in an ideal world...

I could work. It's not even about an ideal world.

Right now you can do pretty much everything to do with you and the government online. Applying for benefits, passports, birth certificates, everything majorly important that could be open to fraud can be done online. It should be the same for voting too.

That is very true and I agree completely.

[PorkChop]

Good luck trying to make voting mandatory in this country

[Kirbi]

Not sure how that would work realistically but in an ideal world...

I could work. It's not even about an ideal world.

Right now you can do pretty much everything to do with you and the government online. Applying for benefits, passports, birth certificates, everything majorly important that could be open to fraud can be done online. It should be the same for voting too.

I think the preservation of anonymity might be your problem here.

[SortaCreative]

Not sure how that would work realistically but in an ideal world...

I could work. It's not even about an ideal world.

Right now you can do pretty much everything to do with you and the government online. Applying for benefits, passports, birth certificates, everything majorly important that could be open to fraud can be done online. It should be the same for voting too.

I think the preservation of anonymity might be your problem here.

Technical issue....

Yeah. You're right about that. It's doable but it's open to all kinds of attacks and abuse. I'm looking at you NSA. There's got to be some kind of solution though. Maybe getting people to give a shit would be enough on its own.

[Daz]

I know people who would vote for racists in protest of the current regime ... I think it should be mandatory these people aren't allowed to vote.

[Kirbi]

Damnit guys, leave common suffrage alone!