People had time to vote, they had time to research things and take part in political discourse
Which is precisely why it should be mandatory, otherwise politicians can just go about making life difficult for people to suppress votes. There is no place for political disengagement in a democracy
The problem I have with mandatory voting is, besides the fact that it would require a national holiday and changes to timing that would already drive up voter participation… given current political behavior in the US it’s going to drive a lot of apathy voting to just avoid the consequences that could be more harmful than not.
I absolutely think every citizen should be voting, but it’s also not really right to just force them to do it- Give them the resources (time off) and the reason to actually do it, and we’ll have turnout of 70%+.
That’s not good enough. Are you afraid of people having their opinions be heard? Without 100% participation you do not have democracy. Voting should be done on the weekend or on a public holiday or held over the course of a week or two. If people don’t want to vote they are most welcome to move to Russia. American democracy is hanging on by a thread anyway. If Harris wins January 6th might happen again and the MAGAs will know what they’re doing this time. If Trump wins he’ll abuse his power and set back international relations (I would like him to tear up the AUKUS “deal” because it sucks for Australia). And with the assassination attempt against Trump we might have the crazies from the other side take matters into their own hands.
Both sides think America is over if the other guy wins. I’m lucky I don’t have to deal with this shit in my country (though we are certainly on that path)
Which is precisely why it should be mandatory, otherwise politicians can just go about making life difficult for people to suppress votes. There is no place for political disengagement in a democracy
The problem I have with mandatory voting is, besides the fact that it would require a national holiday and changes to timing that would already drive up voter participation… given current political behavior in the US it’s going to drive a lot of apathy voting to just avoid the consequences that could be more harmful than not.
I absolutely think every citizen should be voting, but it’s also not really right to just force them to do it- Give them the resources (time off) and the reason to actually do it, and we’ll have turnout of 70%+.
That’s not good enough. Are you afraid of people having their opinions be heard? Without 100% participation you do not have democracy. Voting should be done on the weekend or on a public holiday or held over the course of a week or two. If people don’t want to vote they are most welcome to move to Russia. American democracy is hanging on by a thread anyway. If Harris wins January 6th might happen again and the MAGAs will know what they’re doing this time. If Trump wins he’ll abuse his power and set back international relations (I would like him to tear up the AUKUS “deal” because it sucks for Australia). And with the assassination attempt against Trump we might have the crazies from the other side take matters into their own hands.
Both sides think America is over if the other guy wins. I’m lucky I don’t have to deal with this shit in my country (though we are certainly on that path)