Should the US have mandatory voting?
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  Presidential Elections - Analysis and Discussion
  Presidential Election Process (Moderator: muon2)
  Should the US have mandatory voting?
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Poll
Question: Should the US have mandatory voting?
#1
No
 
#2
Yes
 
#3
Yes, but only if there is a "none of the above" option.
 
#4
Yes, but only if voting is made easier.
 
#5
Options 3 & 4
 
#6
Yes, but only if some other requirement is fulfilled.
 
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Total Voters: 244

Author Topic: Should the US have mandatory voting?  (Read 28304 times)
AGA
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Junior Chimp
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« on: December 05, 2016, 05:34:10 PM »
« edited: December 05, 2016, 08:15:04 PM by Chrome »

The US has low rates of turnout in presidential election. While turnout in the 2016 presidential election was likely in the high 50s, many countries have voter turnout in the 80s or 90s without even making voting compulsory. However, the states with compulsory voting usually have higher turnout than the countries that don't. Australia mandates voting and typically has turnout of 95%. Should the US have mandatory voting? If so, should voting be moved to a different day first to make it easier for people to show up, and what should the punishment be for those who do not vote?
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I’m not Stu
ERM64man
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« Reply #1 on: December 05, 2016, 07:35:45 PM »

No.
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Lachi
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« Reply #2 on: December 06, 2016, 07:47:56 AM »

Make Election Day a public holiday, or move it to the weekend.
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Vosem
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« Reply #3 on: December 06, 2016, 05:49:19 PM »

Would not be a problem if we get stricter with election oversight and allow for voters to cast a blank ballot, if they truly feel that they want to abstain in a certain election.
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Frodo
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« Reply #4 on: December 06, 2016, 08:21:19 PM »
« Edited: December 06, 2016, 08:23:09 PM by Frodo »

Absolutely not -the furthest I'd go is automatic voter registration, but beyond that I think people should be allowed to decide whether or not they want to vote.  This isn't Australia -we weren't founded as a prison colony.  Freedom is our central value in a way it never was in other Anglo-settler countries. 
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zorkpolitics
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« Reply #5 on: December 06, 2016, 09:19:54 PM »

No if someone isn't motivated enough to vote it's not the governments resposibility to force them
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Lachi
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« Reply #6 on: December 07, 2016, 09:38:30 PM »

Absolutely not -the furthest I'd go is automatic voter registration, but beyond that I think people should be allowed to decide whether or not they want to vote.  This isn't Australia -we weren't founded as a prison colony.  Freedom is our central value in a way it never was in other Anglo-settler countries. 
By the way, Australia didn't have compulsory voting till 1924.
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MarkD
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« Reply #7 on: December 07, 2016, 09:45:06 PM »

To borrow an idea from George Will -- if government forced me to vote when I don't want to I might turn pretty cynical and purposely vote for the worst candidate(s).

No way. No mandatory voting. Uh-uh.
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Frodo
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« Reply #8 on: December 08, 2016, 09:53:01 PM »
« Edited: December 08, 2016, 09:54:34 PM by Frodo »

Absolutely not -the furthest I'd go is automatic voter registration, but beyond that I think people should be allowed to decide whether or not they want to vote.  This isn't Australia -we weren't founded as a prison colony.  Freedom is our central value in a way it never was in other Anglo-settler countries.  
By the way, Australia didn't have compulsory voting till 1924.

Interesting info -and notable that that was the one country where it could become law in a way it never could anywhere else in the 'Anglo-Saxon world'.  New Zealand doesn't have mandatory voting, Canada doesn't have it, the UK doesn't have it, and I can't imagine the United States ever having it either.  
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Mike67
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« Reply #9 on: December 08, 2016, 10:06:13 PM »
« Edited: December 08, 2016, 10:21:08 PM by Mike67 »

It's a very important duty and I've got no problem with mandatory voting. I would move the Elections to Saturday instead of Tuesdays like they usually are.
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Tintrlvr
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« Reply #10 on: December 08, 2016, 10:11:19 PM »

I'd be in favor of mandatory voting. Making it easier is also important, of course, and a more pressing concern. I think it would be reasonable to have two-day elections with voting on both Saturday and Sunday, e.g., and automatic voter registration based on a combined database of tax returns, driver's licenses, Social Security numbers, draft registration, etc. Mail-in ballots are good, too, but I'm not a fan of all-mail voting due to the confidentiality concerns.
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Mr. Smith
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« Reply #11 on: December 11, 2016, 09:23:09 PM »

Absolutely.

But there needs to be auto-registraion, NOTA, AND a move to the weekend (Friday if the weekday is so important).
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muon2
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« Reply #12 on: December 13, 2016, 04:41:05 PM »

I'd be in favor of mandatory voting. Making it easier is also important, of course, and a more pressing concern. I think it would be reasonable to have two-day elections with voting on both Saturday and Sunday, e.g., and automatic voter registration based on a combined database of tax returns, driver's licenses, Social Security numbers, draft registration, etc. Mail-in ballots are good, too, but I'm not a fan of all-mail voting due to the confidentiality concerns.

But the moment you try to link up those databases for election purposes you will create a significant security and confidentiality issue. Then there is the deeper issue that people can choose not to exercise their rights. What makes voting different than other basic rights that a citizen would lose the ability to decline that right?
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Intell
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« Reply #13 on: December 13, 2016, 09:48:50 PM »

Absolutely, it is essential for a nation's freedom, and for people to do their civic duty, right and responsibility, and greatly improves a nation's democracy and political discourse. Cast an invalid ballot, if you wish to, get out of your fycking bed and vote though.
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muon2
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« Reply #14 on: December 16, 2016, 09:58:25 PM »

There should be a tax credit for voting and a tax penalty for not voting IMO

How would that be different than a poll tax, the kind used in the Jim Crow South, except in reverse.
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SUSAN CRUSHBONE
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« Reply #15 on: December 17, 2016, 05:24:12 AM »

no, but everyöne should be able to vote
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Golfman76
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« Reply #16 on: December 21, 2016, 05:34:00 PM »

Make Election Day a public holiday, or move it to the weekend.
It's a very important duty and I've got no problem with mandatory voting. I would move the Elections to Saturday instead of Tuesdays like they usually are.

Come on now. If we make election day a holiday, or move it to the weekends, then people will be too busy enjoying their lives to vote
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Ljube
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« Reply #17 on: January 07, 2017, 03:15:52 AM »

Absolutely not.
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MarkD
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« Reply #18 on: February 15, 2017, 11:36:54 PM »
« Edited: February 15, 2017, 11:42:33 PM by MarkD »

There should be a tax credit for voting and a tax penalty for not voting IMO

How would that be different than a poll tax, the kind used in the Jim Crow South, except in reverse.

Some countries, like Australia, fine people for not voting

If anything...a tax penalty for not voting is probably more efficient than giving people a fine

Muon 2 was not just making a moral point about the wrongfulness of imposing a poll tax. The U.S. has two laws that we cannot impose any tax on a citizen as a prerequisite for letting them vote. Those two laws are: 1) the 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, 2) the Supreme Court's precedent in Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections, 1966. Australia and other countries do not have such a difficult-to-repeal-law that prohibits poll taxes.

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Antonio the Sixth
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« Reply #19 on: February 16, 2017, 02:32:35 AM »

There should be a tax credit for voting and a tax penalty for not voting IMO
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White Trash
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« Reply #20 on: February 16, 2017, 01:08:34 PM »

Hopefully the rich will see it as a trendy status symbol to not vote.
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Unapologetic Chinaperson
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« Reply #21 on: February 18, 2017, 07:02:24 PM »

No. Brazil has mandatory voting, and from what I hear from the news and from actual Brazilians, it dosen't help the political culture one bit. And I highly doubt that the US's political culture is so much superior (especially these days) that mandatory voting will work better here.

Better to change the context of how voting occurs (making voting easier, moving Election Day to a weekend/making it a holiday, automatic voter registration) than to enforce a requirement.
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CMB222
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« Reply #22 on: March 06, 2017, 03:33:17 PM »

No way.
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Lincoln Republican
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« Reply #23 on: April 02, 2017, 10:00:11 AM »

No.  Absolutely not.  Terrible idea.

Citizens being herded into voting booths simply does not fit in with the land of the free home of the brave concept.
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Intell
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« Reply #24 on: April 03, 2017, 07:44:35 AM »

No.  Absolutely not.  Terrible idea.

Citizens being herded into voting booths simply does not fit in with the land of the free home of the brave concept.

Yea, not what happens.
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