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Mandatory Voting

Make Voting Mandatory & Punish Those Who Refuse?


  • Total voters
    51
Only someone with a soviet thinking can come up with such scenario, probably an American journalist that never missed a meal in his life, that never lived in a trully opressive system would come with such an idea. Authoritarianism for the greater good. I heard that tape lots of times.

I would argue that an important freedom that we have at our disposal is the power NOT to vote in the West. Just take a look at some of your choices, Trump, Bernie, etc. You should be grateful to have this freedom to abstain from such low intellect and propagandistic choices.


Agree. Ne pas choisir, c'est toujours choisir. Ne pas voter, c'est toujours voter. No chosing, is still chosing. Not voting, is still voting. I hold that even when one doesnt vote, of their own volition of course, they have still voted: they voted not to vote. Even when I vote, I usually only vote on items I understand and leave the rest blank
 
Mandatory voting would be a Death Knell to Republicans. Still, I voted "no." Abstaining must be an option.
 
Did you have to wait in line for hours?
No. Usually 10-15 minutes or you can just mail the ballot in. One thing is different, the Australian government is not so cheap-ass when it comes to voting places. There's lots of them.
When I tell my friends there (On a trip back...every so often)...they're appalled at the stories of long lines here. I don't trash America when I'm there...(I'm a dual citizen) but...well...they ask and I tell them the truth.
I don't sugar coat it. :)
 
An L.A. Times columnist talks about an idea to make voting in the U.S. mandatory from local elections to Prez to "strengthen our democracy" & fine those who don't vote.

My answer: No.

The ability to vote is a right, but people also have the right not to participate.

Horrible idea. The last thing we need is more lazy idiots, who can't be bothered to vote voluntarily (and therefore likely having no clue what's going on), having a say in the running of our country. There are already too many highly motivated idiots doing that now.
 
The State coercing citizens to do something they don't want to do is totalitarian. :rolleyes:

Ok, I read the article. it was actually some brain-dead Marxists at UC Berkely who proposed this idiotic scheme.

My apologies to the L.A. Times Marxist reporter. :)
(Wiki) As of January 2020, of the 36 member states of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, only 3 had forms of compulsory voting which is enforced in practice: Australia, Belgium, Luxembourg. Additionally, Greece, Mexico and Turkey have compulsory voting theoretically, but it is not enforced.
 
ROTFLMAO!

Seriously? You are not aware the the L.A. Times is a far left radical newspaper.

You really have been drinking L.A. water for too long, haven't you?
The L.A. Times is a “far left radical newspaper” like I’m a renowned opera singer.

I guess you entirely missed the Zell and Chicago Tribune era.

There was a time that I would not consider any candidate that the LAT endorsed. They have improved, not that I’m ever voting for any of their endorsements without lots of research.

Since the paper is back with local ownership, their editorials reflect more of the issues directly affecting the city. Reporters better reflect the city’s demographics, and address the issues of concern to those communities. Still not a radical publication by any stretch of the imagination.
 
An L.A. Times columnist talks about an idea to make voting in the U.S. mandatory from local elections to Prez to "strengthen our democracy" & fine those who don't vote.

My answer: No.

The ability to vote is a right, but people also have the right not to participate.


I oppose mandatory voting. Most voters are ignorant as **** when it comes to politics. We don't need anymore of these people voting. This is why I detest the get out and vote campaigns aimed at those who don't pay attention to politics. Voting should stay a right and a right means you have the option to exercise it or to not exercise it.
 
An L.A. Times columnist talks about an idea to make voting in the U.S. mandatory from local elections to Prez to "strengthen our democracy" & fine those who don't vote.

My answer: No.

The ability to vote is a right, but people also have the right not to participate.
No also, how effen stupid can you get? Forced voters will just mark up the ballet without forethought. Forced votes are as bad as denied votes.
His article is free speech. Your post is cancel culture.
Forced votes are free speech? While I'd like to see more participation, forcing folks to vote is not freedom, duh...
 
It's almost funny, but after making my selection in the OP, I had to click the button that says "Vote." It was a requirement. :)
You could participate in the thread without voting, what your talking about is entering your vote.
 
No. Usually 10-15 minutes or you can just mail the ballot in. One thing is different, the Australian government is not so cheap-ass when it comes to voting places. There's lots of them.
When I tell my friends there (On a trip back...every so often)...they're appalled at the stories of long lines here. I don't trash America when I'm there...(I'm a dual citizen) but...well...they ask and I tell them the truth.
I don't sugar coat it. :)

Yeah, my thought on this is that if we made it easier to vote, we would get far greater participation, and that would be good. Mandatory voting is a nonstarter because it not only goes against our perverted belief that freedom means you can be free of responsibility and do whatever you want, but a major political party's belief that democracy is bad.

The idea behind mandatory voting is to get greater participation, but there are powerful forces that just don't want that, even if it isn't mandatory.
 
I oppose mandatory voting. Most voters are ignorant as **** when it comes to politics. We don't need anymore of these people voting. This is why I detest the get out and vote campaigns aimed at those who don't pay attention to politics. Voting should stay a right and a right means you have the option to exercise it or to not exercise it.

With so many ignorant people voting, it seems quite possible that many non-igornant people don't vote.
 
As an (also) Australian citizen, I'm used to mandatory voting. Did it for many years. Didn't think of it as a big deal.
Having said that, the ol' proverb still is true..When in Rome, do as ..... :)
I've read that Australia no longer allows most citizens to own guns. You now need an endorsement from the Police Chief to own a gun. Was that a big deal?

Americans tend get antsy when our government sticks their boot on the back of our necks and forces us to do things against our wishes..

Americans have always been like that. Our country was actually founded on the principles of freedom and liberty. Mandatory voting will NEVER happen in the US, no matter how much the neo-Bolsheviks at the Washington Post clamor for it.
 
Until we change our current form of government and weed out the corruption I won’t be a sheep and participate.
 
I’m more for restricting who can vote. Do we really want Qanoners/Deplorables/ people with green hair/ people who don’t speak English/ People without a high school degree etc voting?
 
I've read that Australia no longer allows most citizens to own guns. You now need an endorsement from the Police Chief to own a gun. Was that a big deal?

Americans tend get antsy when our government sticks their boot on the back of our necks and forces us to do things against our wishes..

Americans have always been like that. Our country was actually founded on the principles of freedom and liberty. Mandatory voting will NEVER happen in the US, no matter how much the neo-Bolsheviks at the Washington Post clamor for it.
What you say is true. The main problem I have (as a citizen of America) is the populace has traded the boot on our necks by the Government for the boot on the
neck by the corporations. I mean, when we allow the corporations to essentially bribe and pay-off the (crooked) politicians, we're just trading one boot for another.
As far as the gun thing in Australia, the people wanted the strict regulations. They also threw out the greedy insurance companies, simply because those
same insurance companies were getting rich by over-charging just about everything.
Personally, there's some things I like about Australia but I also like a lot of things about America, Frankly, I wish we could take the best of both.
 
I've read that Australia no longer allows most citizens to own guns. You now need an endorsement from the Police Chief to own a gun. Was that a big deal?

Americans tend get antsy when our government sticks their boot on the back of our necks and forces us to do things against our wishes..

Americans have always been like that. Our country was actually founded on the principles of freedom and liberty. Mandatory voting will NEVER happen in the US, no matter how much the neo-Bolsheviks at the Washington Post clamor for it.

Guns as a form of freedom is a myth, albeit a powerful one. Many Americans value it more than the right to vote.
 
Absolutely no, mandatory voting is a terrible idea.

Besides, it is not Constitutional (not that many care about that these days.)
 
Absolutely no, mandatory voting is a terrible idea.

Besides, it is not Constitutional (not that many care about that these days.)

Neither is mandatory schooling, btw.
 
Guns as a form of freedom is a myth, albeit a powerful one. Many Americans value it more than the right to vote.
The Right to keep and bear arms IS more valuable than the right to vote.

The right to vote is not even mentioned in the Bill Of Rights. The Right to keep and bear arms IS.

Hope this helps to put things into perspective for you. :)
 
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