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1/20/2013 1:47:45 AM
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Americans: Should voting be mandatory?

In the last presidential election, nearly 1/3 of the population didn't vote. The total number of adults that didn't vote (94 million), exceeded the number of votes for either individual candidate. And this isn't something that's new; this has been a trend for an entire century. I understand that some people don't support either candidate, or are for some reason 'protesting', but I think most of would agree that this trend is a bit ridiculous. So, should voting be mandatory? It would still be acceptable to leave the ballot blank, but every adult citizen would be required to turn one in (and these days, having a busy day at work isn't an excuse because of mail-in ballots and early polling). Also, if you agree that voting should be mandatory, what incentives would you use to enforce the policy (such as monetary penalties)?

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  • Edited by SlLVER CRlMS0N: 1/20/2013 8:28:38 PM
    I'd argue no.

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  • Making it mandatory would just enforce uneducated voting even more. Besides, choosing to support nobody at all is just as valid of a choice as choosing to support someone.

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  • I've never voted and I never will.

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  • Edited by HurtfulTurkey: 1/20/2013 3:24:45 AM
    Alternate idea: Votes of dissent. These would be votes against a certain candidate, but not necessarily in favor of the other. The way that it would not automatically be a vote in favor of the opposition is by weighting these votes differently; I haven't thought about this much, so I don't have a suggested rate, but just imagine that 100,000 people vote in dissent of a candidate equating to subtracting maybe 10,000 votes. It could also be a way for popular vote to affect electoral vote. For instance, if one district gives 20 electoral votes, but 1/3 of the population vote in dissent, the candidate actually receives 15 votes. I feel like a system like that might be interesting, but would have to be implemented very carefully.

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  • Not voting isn't bad.

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  • Don't care, really. I don't see a reason to vote if I don't think either candidate is worth voting for.

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  • Hey guys, totally off topic here, but it's really weird that nobody has said anything about that picture. I post it in nearly all of my threads, but it's never brought up. How are you all so comfortable with William Dafoe staring you down?

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    • A fairly large portion of that 1/3 might not be in a position to make an educated decision as to which candidate they would like to see in office, and there's no way the government can enforce political knowledge. We're no Athenians.

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      • yeah politics ... I don't do politics. Making it mandatory would just be another annoying and useless thing I'd have to do. No thanks. Every person should have their own choice if they want to vote or not.

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      • No.

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      • The last thing the powers that be want is more informed voters (see: recent voter ID laws).

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      • I'm of the radical opinion that voting shouldn't be for the general populace. The average citizen is a -blam!-ing moron. Making them vote just means we end up with more horrible choices. Instead people with enough education to understand the complexities of the issues should be voting. Doctors, engineers, economists, lawyers. How to determine that is a challenge but not the focus of your question.

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        • I'm an Australian, but I think that steps should be taken to maximise the ability of voters to get to the stalls first, then small penalties for not voting (~50 dollar fines, maybe) should be instituted. Compulsory voting is a good thing.

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          • No, because I don't really give a shit about politics and therefore I usually have no clue what either candidate stands for, so it would be irresponsible for me to vote.

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            • No, but these silly voter ID laws that have been added in a couple of states should be removed.

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              • Isn't leaving the ballot blank considered not voting? I'm entitled to not voting. I voted this election, but I have a choice to not vote next election. Besides, I'm not complaining and whining like a baby about the results of this election.

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              • No, there are plenty of people who don't care about politics and would just pick someone at random. A complete idiot could be elected by accident.

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                • I think that everyone should vote, even in most local elections, but there's so many problems with that. Say someone gets slapped with a fine for not voting, and then sues the United States Government because they supposedly couldn't get registered in time or something. Voter registration is still run chiefly by individuals and private groups who can very easily -blam!- things up, so it's highly likely that something like that could happen more than once in 2016 if this is implemented.

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                • No. Generally, the less educated are the ones that don't vote. I don't want them voting. Unless of course you're the kind that's protesting. Therefore, making them vote just wouldn't be right.

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                • Edited by OaklandPaintbalr: 1/20/2013 1:57:00 AM
                  I think it should be mandatory to turn in a ballot, but with the option to leave it blank.

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                • You get fined here if you don't vote.

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                • Nope. Nope. Nope.

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                • Absolutely not, I only want the people who give enough of a shit to vote voting.

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                • No, that would just create an influx of people who vote without caring or even knowing about what they are voting for, distorting the whole purpose.

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                • People are entitled to apathy. However, it should exempt them from being able to complain.

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                  • No way.

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