Mandatory Voting

[Misty]

[h=1]Obama: Maybe it's time for mandatory voting[/h]By Holly Yan, CNN
Updated 10:07 AM ET, Thu March 19, 2015


(CNN)The president whose major policy achievement is mandatory health insurance thinks maybe voting should be mandatory, too.


Asked how to offset the influence of big money in politics, President Barack Obama suggested it's time to make voting a requirement.
"Other countries have mandatory voting," Obama said Wednesday in Cleveland, where he spoke about the importance of middle class economics, and was asked about the issue during a town hall.
"It would be transformative if everybody voted -- that would counteract money more than anything," he said, adding it was the first time he had shared the idea publicly.

The clout of millionaires and billionaires in campaign funding has been enormous, and many claim the uber wealthy have undue leverage in politics.

"The people who tend not to vote are young, they're lower income, they're skewed more heavily towards immigrant groups and minority groups," Obama said. "There's a reason why some folks try to keep them away from the polls."
At least 26 countries have compulsory voting, according to the Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance. Failure to vote is punishable by a fine in countries such as Australia and Belgium; if you fail to pay your fine in Belgium, you could go to prison.

Does anyone else think this is not a good idea, or is this agreeable to you?

 

[QuickSilver]

Yes... I agree... People SHOULD be required to vote.. I have no problem with that... However, I would just be happy if voting and registering to vote were made easier, not harder.. In fact I think that people should automatically be registered to vote when they turn 18. Oregon has a new law that automatically registers people to vote however they have the right to opt out.

The law dictates that once residents interact with the state DMV – whether to get a license or ID for the first time, or renew an existing one – they’ll become registered to vote if they aren’t already. The registration will be provisional for 21 days, during which time applicants will be notified of their new status and be given a chance to become affiliated with a political party or to opt-out of the voting process altogether. In essence, Oregon will now be the first state to approach voting with an “opt-out” mindset, as opposed to “opt-in.”

http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/oregons-motor-voter-law-quickly-increase-voter-registration

 

[Misty]

Yes... I agree... People SHOULD be required to vote.. I have no problem with that... However, I would just be happy if voting and registering to vote were made easier, not harder.. In fact I think that people should automatically be registered to vote when they turn 18. Oregon has a new law that automatically registers people to vote however they have the right to opt out.



http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/oregons-motor-voter-law-quickly-increase-voter-registration

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Quicksilver. 22 countries have laws for compulsory voting and 11 of them are enforcing the laws with fines or community service. Australia is one of the countries that enforce compulsory voting. It would be interesting for DameWarrigal to give information and her views too.

 

[Ameriscot]

I agree that voting should be mandatory.

 

[Davey Jones]

Mandatory??? How are all the dead voters go to vote?

Study: 1.8 Million Dead People Still Registered To Vote : NPR

 

[QuickSilver]

Mandatory??? How are all the dead voters go to vote?

Study: 1.8 Million Dead People Still Registered To Vote : NPR

Of those 1.8 million still on voter lists... exactly how many of them have cast ballots?

 

[Josiah]

My views on this subject might be quite different if I were a Republican, but since I'm not I'll offer a tepid endorsement. Being forced to vote might prompt some non-politicals to pay a little attention. Some how I think a new ya' gotta vote law would be hard to pass and if passed would be challenged up to SCOTUS and found to be unconstitutional.

 

[QuickSilver]

That's why I'm more in favor of making it easier to register and vote rather than making it mandatory.

 

[Misty]

I agree that voting should be mandatory.

Thanks for your response, Ameriscot. I was surprised to read that other countries have mandatory voting. I learned something new. Also learned that over 100 countries require compulsary Id cards, even for some as young as 2.

 

[Misty]

Mandatory??? How are all the dead voters go to vote?

Study: 1.8 Million Dead People Still Registered To Vote : NPR

Good question on how are all the dead voters going to vote, Davey, tho where there's a will there's a way, at least in Chicago.
Interesting article.

 

[Ameriscot]

Thanks for your response, Ameriscot. I was surprised to read that other countries have mandatory voting. I learned something new. Also learned that over 100 countries require compulsary Id cards, even for some as young as 2.

We don't have it in the UK and ID cards were discussed but everyone objected.

 

[oakapple]

I don't agree that voting should be mandatory, I think there are enough things forced on us by government.We have the right to vote, and that's enough. it is not mandatory here, and neither do we carry ID cards, although I am sure the powers that be would like us to.The mere thought of some over zealous official demanding 'papers!' Is Orwellian and nightmarish.If some sorts of people are too idle to go and vote then they don't have a say in who gets in at the next election. maybe they don't wish to vote for other reasons too, and that is up to them.

 

[Warrigal]

Thanks for your response, Ameriscot. I was surprised to read that other countries have mandatory voting. I learned something new. Also learned that over 100 countries require compulsary Id cards, even for some as young as 2.

Yes. Australia is one of those countries. From the Australian Electoral Commission website:

History of compulsory voting in Australia

• Compulsory enrolment for federal elections was introduced in 1912

Arguments used in favour of compulsory voting

• Voting is a civic duty comparable to other duties citizens perform e.g. taxation, compulsory education, jury duty
• Teaches the benefits of political participation
• Parliament reflects more accurately the "will of the electorate"
• Governments must consider the total electorate in policy formulation and management
• Candidates can concentrate their campaigning energies on issues rather than encouraging voters to attend the poll
• The voter isn't actually compelled to vote for anyone because voting is by secret ballot.

Arguments used against compulsory voting:

• It is undemocratic to force people to vote – an infringement of liberty
• The ill informed and those with little interest in politics are forced to the polls
• It may increase the number of "donkey votes" (We have a preferential system of voting and a donkey vote is one where the voter simply numbers the boxes down the card without taking any care to choose sensibly)
• It may increase the number of informal votes (Informal votes are not counted. They may be blank papers, papers with comments or other extraneous markings or papers filled out incorrectly)
• It increases the number of safe, single-member electorates – political parties then concentrate on the more marginal electorates
• Resources must be allocated to determine whether those who failed to vote have "valid and sufficient" reasons.

It works this way - when you turn 18 or otherwise become eligible to vote, you go down to the local electoral office and fill in a card. You are then put on the electoral roll and whenever you change your address you need to notify the office to avoid being removed from the roll. Periodically they do doorknock to check the validity of the roll. Whenever the writs for an election are called, people are reminded to update their enrolment to make sure they will not be disenfranchised. When a death is registered with Births, Deaths and Marriages the name is automatically removed, so no dead people voting.

The same roll is used for all elections - federal, state and local.

There are several ways that you can vote

• Turn up to the local voting location, usually a school hall on election day (which is always a Saturday).
• Ask for an absentee voting form if out of your own electorate on voting day
• Arrange for a postal vote if you cannot attend on the day due to work or other restrictions like getting married, having a baby etc
• Vote early (in the week before) at predetermined polling places

All we have to do is turn up, have a line ruled through our name on the print out of the roll and we are handed the voting papers. We then go to a booth and mark the papers before placing them in the boxes. We don't have to vote at all if we don't want to but if we don't turn up, we will get a 'Please explain' letter. Persistent non voting without a valid reason will result in a fine.

We don't find it an onerous duty. There are plenty of polling places and queues aren't a problem. The method of voting is reasonably uniform all across the country and because the votes are on paper recounts are easy to achieve when necessary. Scrutineers from the major parties observe the count to make sure it is properly done.

Getting most Americans to consider changing their system has a success probability somewhere between zero and none IMO. Uniformity across the whole nation seems to be anathema to most US citizens, even though it is an efficient way of doing some things.

 

[Lon]

I could support Mandatory Voting only for those that could prove that they filed a previous year Tax Return

 

[Warrigal]

Too bad about stay-at-home mothers and old aged pensioners then. Money isn't the only value that should determine voting eligibility.

 

[Lon]

Too bad about stay-at-home mothers and old aged pensioners then. Money isn't the only value that should determine voting eligibility.

Filing a tax return isn't about money, it's about showing who is paying taxes, if any. If some one is working at any thing and earning money, they are required to file a tax return.

 

[Warrigal]

And voting is about citizenship, not taxes.

I don't pay income tax any more although I do pay indirect tax every time I spend a dollar in a shop. Some of my student grandchildren don't pay income tax because although they work part time, their income does not reach the taxable level. I no longer need to file a tax return but I'm not sure about the grandkids. They probably do if only to receive a tax return.

There are other examples of people who wouldn't earn enough to pay income tax - full time carers of their disabled children, for example. Are they not citizens doing something valuable for the community? Should they not also have the right to vote?

 

[Bee]

I don't agree that voting should be mandatory, I think there are enough things forced on us by government.We have the right to vote, and that's enough. it is not mandatory here, and neither do we carry ID cards, although I am sure the powers that be would like us to.The mere thought of some over zealous official demanding 'papers!' Is Orwellian and nightmarish.If some sorts of people are too idle to go and vote then they don't have a say in who gets in at the next election. maybe they don't wish to vote for other reasons too, and that is up to them.

Agree with everything you say Oakapple.

 

[Lon]

And voting is about citizenship, not taxes.

I don't pay income tax any more although I do pay indirect tax every time I spend a dollar in a shop. Some of my student grandchildren don't pay income tax because although they work part time, their income does not reach the taxable level. I no longer need to file a tax return but I'm not sure about the grandkids. They probably do if only to receive a tax return.

There are other examples of people who wouldn't earn enough to pay income tax - full time carers of their disabled children, for example. Are they not citizens doing something valuable for the community? Should they not also have the right to vote?

Voters should be citizens of course (in any country). I am afraid that their are some politicos in the Obama Administration that would just require RESIDENCY as a requirement.

 

[Warrigal]

That doesn't happen over here. Permanent residents do not get to vote. Naturalised immigrants can/must vote. It is one of the duties that come with naturalisation.

 

[QuickSilver]

Voters should be citizens of course (in any country). I am afraid that their are some politicos in the Obama Administration that would just require RESIDENCY as a requirement.

I don't believe this to be true... Are you just speculating?.. or do you have a link to back that charge up.

 

[Jackie22]

I think mandatory voting would be a good thing, it would correct many of the things that are wrong with our voting system and eliminate the voter suppression that is going on. There are too many that think there is no use in voting and stay at home, this way they'd become involved and maybe pay better attention to the candidates and what they really stand for.

As for the income tax return........there are many many poor and seniors that do not have to file, it would be wrong to deny their voting privileges, just because they do not file a return does not mean that the do not pay taxes.

 

[Butterfly]

That's why I'm more in favor of making it easier to register and vote rather than making it mandatory.

I agree. Here, they started early voting several years ago, where the have places open before voting day where a person could go vote. This was a great help to me when I was still working, because it was inevitably a hassle to get out and get to the polls on time. I could never manage it at lunch because the lines were long. Now, I just go on a Saturday or something and vote.

I think trying to enforce mandatory voting would just increase costs to the taxpayers by creating a new bureaucracy to enforce and figure out who voted and who didn't.

 

[Butterfly]

I could support Mandatory Voting only for those that could prove that they filed a previous year Tax Return

So that would disenfranchise those (like many elderly) who don't have to file a tax return because their income is too little to require filing one. My sister hasn't filed a tax return in years for that reason, but she certainly still has the right to vote.

 

[SifuPhil]

As a rule I dislike mandatory anything ...