Compulsory voting: yes or no?

[The New Sea Territory]

Compulsory voting is in itself tyrannical.

Holy shit we agree....

[Geilinor]

You still have the right not to vote. You just have a civil duty to take 30 minutes out of one weekend every three years to go to a polling booth.

Why force people who aren't going to vote to go to a poll both?

[Wolfenia]

Am I required to vote on this issue?

[Condunum]

You still have the right not to vote. You just have a civil duty to take 30 minutes out of one weekend every three years to go to a polling booth.

Why force people who aren't going to vote to go to a poll both?

Because you can't trust a man who doesn't vote. *Eyes the entire room* I'm watching you.

[The New Sea Territory]

You still have the right not to vote. You just have a civil duty to take 30 minutes out of one weekend every three years to go to a polling booth.

Why force people who aren't going to vote to go to a poll both?

So we can ensure he didn't vote, of course! Definitely not pressure the apathetic to mark something random because they here the attack ads on TV and radio....

[Viritica]

The basic mentality of people who are advocating for this shit seems to be something along the lines of "not enough people are voting for who I want them to vote for so I'm gonna force everybody to vote."

[Keyboard Warriors]

The method we use to count votes for the Senate should never be up for alteration so let's forget about that now, shall we? Democracy is far more important than keeping micro-parties out of office. Now consider the Senate preference deals are something that most people will never look at in their lives and that the apathetic will indeed be voting on election day; you don't see any problem with the apathetic voting for people who they don't think they're actually voting for because they don't understand the system, hence nothing gets back to compulsory voting? I find that weird, I can almost directly trace half of that problem to people voting when they really don't want to vote at all and couldn't give a rats what's on the paper.

You offer no proof. You speculate that because a minor party got in that that's voter apathy

It's rather obvious isn't it? How else do you propose a party which essentially nobody even knew about managed to win a seat? Yes, AMAP received some favorable preference deals but that alone did not get them in. For a party of their size, they received a lot of above the line votes. 0.5% to be exact.

You misunderstand that there are various proportional representation systems that offer different methods to count votes without excluding minor parties.

That's because they exclude votes. The current Australian system ensures every vote is counted and that people have the full opportunity to vote for exactly who they would like to vote for, not somebody based on a technicality.

Why are you so hung up on this one minor party considering the giant clusterfuck of a government sitting in the lower house?

Because that "giant clusterfuck" is a party which everybody knew about when they went to the election. There's a big difference there.

[Shilya]

No. Not going is a vote in itself, too. It essentially says "I don't think politics/politicians relate to me, neither are things so bad that I'd have to make them relate to me." Alternatively, it can be interpreted as lost faith in the system, or simply being content.

You might be able to increase turnout by adding a "none of the above" option.

[The Two Jerseys]

How exactly does forcing people to vote and ending up with 50% of the votes being write-ins for Superman/Batman/Jed Bartlet/Mickey Mouse send more of a message than just letting them stay at home and ending up with a 50% turnout rate? Besides, if people don't want to vote they shouldn't be forced to burn gas driving to the polling place just to say "I don't care" when they could just as easily stay home and not vote.

[Snurgonia]

OOC: compulsory voting much less non-democratic than compulsory military service

...considering how the military draft isn't non-democratic, that's not saying a lot.

How is forcing someone, on threat of prison, not non-democratic? Certainly, once in uniform, your democratic rights are severely abridged.

[Bezombia]

Forcing apolitical people to vote is a surefire way of not having democracy.

[Infected Mushroom]

Edmure Tully: The laws of gods and men are clear, no man may compel another man to vote.

Compulsory voting advocate: The laws of my fist are about to compel your teeth...

____

No. Voting is largely meaningless because people tend to have better things to do with their time (and also because you're just going to get corporate puppets one way or another anyways). Therefore, people should not be forced to vote.

Voting is a right, not a responsibility.

With great power comes great responsibility, an individual voter doesn't have great power (his vote is statistically insignificant)... therefore he does not have great responsibility in this matter. He ought not to be compelled.

[Quelsh]

If voluntary voting ain't working for you, maybe it is time to think about some government changes. Instead of making what is supposed to be a truly free ballot box a forced activity, try getting people actually more interested in the politics.

[Margno]

The thing is, people make the mistake of assuming that if I was voting, I'd vote for the democrats. I wouldn't. I'd turn in blank votes. If that was illegal, I'd vote for either Socrates or Jesus, depending on my mood. If it was illegal to vote for anyone but living American citizens who aren't in jail, I'd vote for my dentist. If it was illegal to vote for anyone but one of the official candidates, I'd refuse and go to prison. If it was illegal to vote for anyone but the one candidate, I'd burn the goddamn polling booth down and go to prison.

[Infected Mushroom]

If voluntary voting ain't working for you, maybe it is time to think about some government changes. Instead of making what is supposed to be a truly free ballot box a forced activity, try getting people actually more interested in the politics.

they could try handing out free stuff and money to voters... might get them off their chairs and go to the booths. Free chocolate bars?

Otherwise, politics is quite boring (especially when its always the same corporate puppet types)

[The Sotoan Union]

I don't know if people who weren't going to vote anyways would make informed decisions.

[Lalaki]

If a person doesn't want to vote, to force them is unfair.

[Caford and Galloway]

No. I do believe election day should be a mandatory holiday though.

If someone does not wish to exercise that right, they do not have to. However, you shouldn't complain about the current regime if you didn't cast a vote. You don't even need to vote in one of the two-party candidates, just write yourself in, then it at least shows you've made an effort.

[Infected Mushroom]

No. I do believe election day should be a mandatory holiday though.

If someone does not wish to exercise that right, they do not have to. However, you shouldn't complain about the current regime if you didn't cast a vote. You don't even need to vote in one of the two-party candidates, just write yourself in, then it at least shows you've made an effort.

why do you not have a right to complain if you don't vote?

you could choose not to vote and still see something wrong with the system.

[Page]

No. I do believe election day should be a mandatory holiday though.

If someone does not wish to exercise that right, they do not have to. However, you shouldn't complain about the current regime if you didn't cast a vote. You don't even need to vote in one of the two-party candidates, just write yourself in, then it at least shows you've made an effort.

why do you not have a right to complain if you don't vote?

you could choose not to vote and still see something wrong with the system.

You want a puppy holocaust, ergo, your opinions are invalid.

[Nationes Pii Redivivi]

VOter apathy is a good thing, it means that we get less of the hoi polloi trying to influence government.

[Stagnant Axon Terminal]

No, it should be an option, a freedom.

[Nazi Flower Power]

If people choose not to vote, that does not make them disenfranchised. It just means they chose not to vote.

If you want to encourage more people to vote, there are organizations that go around helping people to register to vote. You can volunteer with them if you want.

[Nazi Flower Power]

why do you not have a right to complain if you don't vote?

you could choose not to vote and still see something wrong with the system.

You want a puppy holocaust, ergo, your opinions are invalid.

Puppy Holocaust sounds like a good name for a rock band.

[Earth in Roughly 1000 Years]

Nah