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Obama floats mandatory voting


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I started this damn thread. I didn't jump into it. It seems we are both at a stubborn impass ATM.

Eh, so ya did, but with very little input aside from the first page

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I didn't know that was a stereotype of Australians so much as a trait I've noticed from conversing with a few of you throughout the years here but if it is one you live up to so far. Let's save the national pride battle though. One little quip set you off too easy. Let's return to the subject at hand. More stuff the government may like to mandate...

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Eh, so ya did, but with very little input aside from the first page

Only so much to say. It's not an actual thing. It's an idea. If it had potential for an actual thing I'll have more to say. Other than that there's a lot of smart people here with good stuff to say. It's not the me show. However, I am in many threads and have lots to say about lots of things.

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I didn't know that was a stereotype of Australians so much as a trait I've noticed from conversing with a few of you throughout the years here but if it is one you live up to so far. Let's save the national pride battle though. One little quip set you off too easy. Let's return to the subject at hand. More stuff the government may like to mandate...

I cant see yas having mandatory voting anyway, it already seems like they kind of attempt to discourage it by having it on a working day for the majority. its possible they would have a higher turn out on the weekends

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I cant see yas having mandatory voting anyway, it already seems like they kind of attempt to discourage it by having it on a working day for the majority. its possible they would have a higher turn out on the weekends

Doubt it. Same as if it were a national day off. People don't want obligations outside of relaxing or socializing on their days off. Mandatory obligations at least. I think the idea behind it being on a workday is because people are more engaged with life in general on workdays than weekends or holidays.

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I doubt it. People won't want to give up their free time to vote.

If anything, it being during the week lets people say "Ill be in late I'm gonna go vote"

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Doubt it. Same as if it were a national day off. People don't want obligations outside of relaxing or socializing on their days off. Mandatory obligations at least. I think the idea behind it being on a workday is because people are more engaged with life in general on workdays than weekends or holidays.

Well if thats the attitude they put towards voting, then they get the government they deserve and shouldnt whine about it if/when the side they support doesnt get in

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Well if thats the attitude they put towards voting, then they get the government they deserve and shouldnt whine about it if/when the side they support doesnt get in

The ones sought after for a mandate like this aren't ones who normally care to vote or care to put any concern towards voting anyways but yes you are right that they are usually the first kind to whine. Obamas sole thought process behind this is an untapped underclass of voters that the democrats can promise a future to and tell them how to vote for it. It's pretty blatant.

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Get over yourself. Im allowed to comment in any section i choose.

Does that upset you?

You see the internet is worldwide and there is other countries outside the US. See i just taught you two new things. On your way now.

No, just wondering why you hide who you are.

So it irks you because you cant criticize there country in return?

Nah, I don't get in the middle of Aussie politics as I don't follow it closely enough to offer an informed opinion. Apparently you don't care.

"On your way now." LMAO. You have a new fan mate so not likely.

Edited by Merc14
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Won't work in America, too many people.

It works in Australia because of our relatively smaller population (ie voting booths see maybe 400-1000 people over the course of 12 hours, whereas American booths see the lower end of that number in a few hours without it being mandatory).

It'll be chaos.

It'll be a waste of people's time.

It'll involve a LOT of people getting fined for not voting because for whatever insane reason the American Polling day is a work day.

Not sure I agree with you there. We have polling booths established to suit the number of people expected to vote based on registered voter stats for each council/electorate. The same would apply if mandatory voting occurred in America, registered voter numbers would govern how many polling booths would be required. Higher population = higher number of polling booths, thats really all there is to it.

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Agreed.

Australia does this as well and I posted a question to our Australian members a few months back over on that forum to get their input on how it all works. From what they say, it doesn't.

I don't know if it is as straitforward as saying it doesn't work.

Basically, if you want a generation to come that recognizes that politics is important to their social and economic environment, mandatory voting is not a bad way to go.

- Yes, we have a sector of voters who just show up and put thru what we would call a "donkey" vote. aka: they just number their preference from 1 thru to 10 or whatever in sequential order without even looking at the name or which party is represented. We also have other invalid votes, like using an "x" instead of a number, or submitting a blank form, or writing unmentionables all other the form etc before handing it in. However, they are a minority of the total number of votes and a greater part of the population does eventually turn the corner and take a real interest in politics, leading to informed voters as they grow older and have voted a few times etc.

Basically, you will get a mixed bag and that's to be expected but you will also create opportunity where there was none for younger people to learn and be more involved politically as it is an integral part of their adult lives - they will have to vote regularly and therefore they will discuss with others who to vote for and why when they might otherwise ignore it and live as ignorant victims of the outcome, never understanding that they could participate and have a say if they chose and even run local elections and so on themselves. There is an untapped resource in those that do not vote and voting is what ultimately defines a countries path and future.

Overall, although I may joke about it sometimes, I have come to appreciate that I was forced to vote or face a fine in my younger years because it is a part of what has led to my education about the politics of my country and today makes me feel empowered and informed on what choices I make at each election going forward.

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No, just wondering why you hide who you are.

Nah, I don't get in the middle of Aussie politics as I don't follow it closely enough to offer an informed opinion. Apparently you don't care.

"On your way now." LMAO. You have a new fan mate so not likely.

*yawn* you are quite the bore. its not hiding where im from either, its just not important. You dont offer an informed opinion on much else either, but whatever.

Are you going to be my own personal troll now? Oh how lucky i am to have someone of such shining wit, or more likely a whining **EDIT**

**Watch it, Degen.**

Edited by aquatus1
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On one hand mandatory voting isn't that bad an idea. After all, to use the simplistic argument, if you haven't voted at all, you really haven't earned the right to have a right good whinge about the blinking halfwits that are in government. On the other hand though, it might work best in countries where the population isn't that big, where technically every vote does count. And of course, if the plan mooted includes fines for not voting, then that could be taken as an indirect form of taxation.

I'd like to see on a ballot paper the possibility of having the choice of "none of the above" used. Drawback with that of course is you'd get a lot of folk marking that out of malice...

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Force people to vote and you're gonna get a lot of 'write ins' for Mickey Mouse. Also, what are they going to do if/when folks up and refuse to vote? Arrest them, fine them?

Honestly, this is a dumb idea IMO.

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Force people to vote and you're gonna get a lot of 'write ins' for Mickey Mouse. Also, what are they going to do if/when folks up and refuse to vote? Arrest them, fine them?

Honestly, this is a dumb idea IMO.

It is dumb. You can't be forced to excersize a constitutional right and you can't attatch a monetary cost to one.

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Force people to vote and you're gonna get a lot of 'write ins' for Mickey Mouse. Also, what are they going to do if/when folks up and refuse to vote? Arrest them, fine them?

Honestly, this is a dumb idea IMO.

Agreed, its a dumb idea. Personally I intentionally don't vote in many elections on the federal level. Especially the presidential elections. To me, voting for "the lesser evil" is absurd. They always end up just as evil as the guy you tried to avoid. Not voting in those elections is a form of protest on my part. If I had to vote, Id be writing in Ron Paul. So it would basically be a waste of their and my time

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I see 3 separate issues being discussed on this thread:

1. The logistics of mandatory voting (such as work day vs holiday, sufficiency of polling booths, etc.)

2. The philosophical question of transforming an American Constitutional right into a mandatory prescription, something citizens can be fined for should they fail to do

3. The question of motive behind BHO floating this idea, i.e., is this merely a grandiose "bussing them to the polls" scheme, wherein the left hopes to drive a large segment of previously untapped voters to the polls and influence them to vote in a certain way?

IMNSHO, it's not really fruitful to discuss #1 without resolving #2 and #3 (not that I'm telling anyone what to post or when they can post it, just saying....).

From my perspective, everything begins and ends with #2. JMO and YMMV.

Edited by 2-B
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Really, look at it this way.

If people don't vote, you probably don't want their opinion affecting how things are done in the country. Because they're either uninformed, or part of the "illuminatti controls everything" crowd.

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Rather than forcing everyone to vote, and thereby diluting the collective intelligence of the electorate, I think we would get better representatives by restricting voters through some sort of civics test. Or perhaps a return to the old custom of only letting property owners vote. That way only those people with a solid stake in society or with the requisite knowledge of our system of government could have a say in choosing representatives or policies. The current system allows "receivers" to vote for ever greater burdens on "providers". Obama's proposal would only make that worse.

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Because people who aren't home owners aren't stake holders in society obviously.

Howabout only men being allowed to vote? If the women folk want their voice heard they can tell ther husband!

Democracy is a terrible system of government, the only problem is all the other options are worse - attributed to Churchill.

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I still lean towards citizenship tests to earn citizen rights such as voting. Show that you actually understand the structure and purpose of the government. None of this natural birthright garbage. Leave that for the people who still have monarchies.

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I still lean towards citizenship tests to earn citizen rights such as voting. Show that you actually understand the structure and purpose of the government. None of this natural birthright garbage. Leave that for the people who still have monarchies.

On this rare event I actually agree with you lol.

Though having to take a test to vote will never happen. Was done to get blacks down in the civil rights era so it has a really bad association

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Though having to take a test to vote will never happen. Was done to get blacks down in the civil rights era so it has a really bad association

Good lord, could you imagine the uproar? The government, namely Democrats, already thinks it's constituents aren't smart enough to get an I.D.

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On this rare event I actually agree with you lol.

**looks out the window in befuddlement as a pig slowly munches on balcony flowerpots before flapping away**

Though having to take a test to vote will never happen. Was done to get blacks down in the civil rights era so it has a really bad association

True, though I believe that could be overcome without much effort. No, I tend to think the greatest source of protest would be from people horrified at the thought of having to actually force their children to take citizenship tests, instead of having citizenship bestowed upon them simply from having been born in the right piece of real estate.

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