There ought to be a law

[fedupwithbush]

that says voting is required. I don't have a choice whether to register my vehicle, take a test to get my drivers license or pay taxes. If you are a United States Citizen you SHOULD have to vote. I'm tired of people copping out of their responsibilities. Voting is a responsibility. It says you care about what decisions are made for you. I want a true majority to decide what happens here and abroad. Not a very vocal minority who has the media behind them.

[HEyHEY]

1. With a none of the above box

I agree

[JVS]

2. Ummm, no

Herding more confused people into the votingbooths is not going to help.

[fedupwithbush]

8. Aren't we all?

Do you study for your drivers test? Or wing it? I kind of study and wing it. But if voting is required, don't you think a lot of people who don't vote now would at least vote for the least offensive? I do. I also think because the majority of Americans are low and middle income, they would vote for a Democrat, Independent or other any day over a Republican. Mind you only if they had to vote. Most are still using the sad excuse it doesn't matter what I do. I'll still be poor etc. Maybe so. I'm under no elusions that everyone can be rich or even middle class. But if everyone votes, everyone benefits. If the minimum wage is raised, the poor benefit. But sadly a lot of poor people don't vote. I know from personal experience. They are in that mode and don't see what voting can do for them. Sadly, if not criminally, the poorest don't have the ability to see what one good elected official can do for them. Life's realities of putting food on the table and having a roof over their heads negates thinking long term. If you are worried about tomorrow's rent payment, the election the day after doesn't even compute.

[Lars39]

3. I'd rather see civics classes as a required subject from elementary on up

[Girlfriday]

4. I agree

Shrub is where he is today, because of uninformed voters. Well that, and Thief justices.

[Loyal]

5. Nope

Making voting required is just as bad as the compulsory draft, in my opinion. Jury duty should be voluntary too, and as Mary Carey(gubernatorial candidate in CA) said, we should tie the jury duty list to the unemployment rolls. That way people don't have to miss work to serve on juries, and people on unemployment can help out with that.

[fedupwithbush]

10. Two different subjects.

But if you want 40% of the population to make your choices for you, uh! Voting is a right and priviledge. If you don't vote, you don't get to gripe when you don't like the decisions made for you. Period.

I love the volunteer military we have now. With one misgiving. It's fueled by low and middle income people. Rich people don't volunteer. Iraq makes me want to reinstate the draft. Not because I love it, but to share the grief. I don't believe for one minute that only poor and middle class people should be killed in my name. Share the glory but share the hardship too in major conflicts. In peace time, keep it volunteer. In war time, no one should be exempt.

[Brucey]

12. If you don't vote, you can still gripe. It's right in the constitution.

Lot's of people don't vote. They are still citizens of the United States. They still have freedom of speech. I don't really care if people vote or not. In fact, I wish people who don't know anything or don't care would NOT vote: they tend to vote according to prejudices that screw things up.

[Loyal]

6. And what if you don't like any of the candidates?

Would there be a none of the above option, because if you vote none of the above, you're essentially not voting?

[fedupwithbush]

9. Compromise.

I know a dirty word. But if candidate X is a hardliner and candidate Y is more moderate, even if both are Repubs or people you don't like, VOTE. I'd rather have Y. X will only make it harder down the road to get a better candidate. Do what you can.

[fedupwithbush]

11. So, do you have that choice on other hard things in life?

Do you get to choose whether to pay your mortgage or rent? Do you get to choose whether your child goes to school? Do you get to choose the health insurance your employer offers? Some choices aren't able to be tossed off. Voting shouldn't be either.

[Brucey]

7. Requiring people to vote seems silly to me,

in fact, I would say that elections would turn out pretty much the same if everyone voted. I've never seen any polling on this, but I suspect that the people who don't vote hold pretty much the same views as the people who do vote. Of course, the vast majority of people who do vote (including me) barely have any idea who they are voting for (except in very visible races, such as Pres., Senator, Governor, etc.). In Minnesota we have had primaries won by people who simply had a "votable" name (Arnie Johnson, for instance) - here it's usually a Scandinavian name that wins, or by people with names similar to those of celebrities. I have often regretted my votes; later learning things that I should have known before voting. The media do a terrible job of educating people. Almost everyone gets their information about candidates from TV ads, talk radio, late night comedians, and word of mouth. Now that I think of it, a better law would be one that does not allow anyone to vote. Seriously, what's so great about democracy? What's so great about letting the majority of people who vote decide who should run the government? Are there any other institutions that use this method? Corporations, churches, schools, households, nonprofit agencies, sports teams, entertainment venues, etc.? Can anyone out there think of any reason that democracy is good except the obvious fact that everyone thinks it is good? And, if everyone thinks it is good, why don't we force other institutions to adopt it? Why are dictatorships or aristocracies acceptable everywhere else in society?

[fedupwithbush]

13. Fine, don't vote.

But don't gripe either. One without the other is meaningless.

[forgethell]

14. I don't know.

How are you going to enforce it? Fines, 30 days in jail for a second offense?? It seems like a bad idea to me, and I'll tell you why: a person that doesn't vote has voted. He has voted, "I don't care". And frankly, if that's the way he feels, then I don't want him on my side.

[depakid]

15. It seems to work well in Australia

the average person that I talked to, even in remote areas was much more informed about government an politics than the vast majority of Americans- even those in College and Grad School. It seems to me that there's a connection between mandatory voting and political intelligence. What might be even more surprising to Americans is that no one I spoke to had problem with it and with voter turnout typically 95% or so, I don't imagine that they levy many fines.

Of course, Australia also has proportional representation and instant runoff voting, so people aren't compelled to constantly hold their nose and vote for lesser of two evils.