Personally I think voting should be like jury duty. Mandatory if you want to avoid the sheriff.

[pgodbold]

Or in the case of property owners a "voter exemption" similar to a "homestead exemption"... no vote pay higher tax... a similar plan for renters could be devised.

[Fumesucker]

1. Everything not prohibited should be mandatory.. n/t

[Book Lover]

42. +1

[quinnox]

2. No, but it should have a monetary benefit

Like a (very) small amount tax deduction or something. To encourage more people to vote. Otherwise, making it mandatory to me is bad, because it takes away the freedom of choice.

[pgodbold]

3. So does Jury Duty.

[Vickers]

4. Fuck that.

And I haven't missed a vote in my life.

[MH1]

5. Make it mandatory that employers must give employees 4 hours off to vote

but if the employee takes the time off, they have to show their employer a 'receipt' showing they voted.

(I got this idea because a friend from the Pittsburgh area mentioned that they already get a 'receipt' for showing up to vote.)

Since most of the time it takes far less than 4 hours to vote, the employee gets some extra time to do other things. It's a win for most people. But unlike just making Election Day a holiday, it would be less likely to cause people to take a 4 day vacation at the shore instead of voting.

The costs to employers could be offset with a tax break if they show something like over 90% voting participation.


Just throwing that out there as an idea.

[ejpoeta]

10. my sister gets time off to go donate blood or the united way day of caring.

but she works for the IRS.

[MH1]

23. They have a bloodmobile at our office regularly

and nobody counts the minutes you're away to give blood.

For elections, we get a nice email encouraging us to volunteer with Committee of Seventy on election day - with a note at the bottom that reminds us we have to take a vacation day if we do that.

[sufrommich]

15. Why? Polls are open from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm. nt

[BootinUp]

16. You never heard of 12 hour shifts

I take it.

[sufrommich]

Then make an exception for people working a 12 hour shift

from 8 am to 8 pm.

[MH1]

22. What if you have to be at work by 8, then something happens and you HAVE to stay

even though you're normally not on a 12 hour shift?

It would just be easier to make it the same for everyone, and provide the incentives. I think a more participative democracy would be worth it.

[sufrommich]

35. Plan ahead? Vote early? nt

[MH1]

37. not all states have vote early. nt

[nadinbrzezinski]

47. Why not make it easier to vote?

Why are some people so resistant to this idea?

[backscatter712]

26. That's why early-voting and mail-in-voting are awesome!

It doesn't matter if I'm busy on Election Day - I already voted!

You can vote on your day off, you can fill out your ballot at your dining-room table, you have lots of options!

[spin]

33. My polling place is my living room.

I can vote at 2am while drinking a beer if I want.

Actually I spent my time researching the issues and candidates and voting actually took me several days, a hour or so each day.

[MH1]

51. not available everywhere. nt

[MH1]

21. people have to vote where they live, not where they work

long commute + long hours REQUIRED at some jobs - including mine, some days, but I can say "sorry - I'm voting" and they can't say or do shit because I'm lucky enough to have a skill that's currently in high demand - but most people have to do what the boss says. The boss knows you're liberal and prefers you don't vote? Not so hard to make it difficult for you. A motivated voter knows the law and might push it - but someone not so motivated or more scared for their steady income might not.

And anyway, this thread is about creating an environment where more people vote. Of course the OP takes a punitive approach, I am suggesting an incentive approach.

[BootinUp]

6. Better approach

just make it easier for people to vote and to be informed. For instance, require businesses to allow time off for voting. Provide additional voting locations so people can walk to them. Spend public money educating people on the importance of voting and dispersing basic information on candidates or issues on the ballot.

[hobbit709]

7. There are times when I lean towards Heinlein's idea.

A state that required a bare minimum of intelligence and education - e.g., step into the polling booth and find that the computer has generated a new quadratic equation just for you. Solve it, the computer unlocks the voting machine, you vote. But get a wrong answer and the voting machine fails to unlock, a loud bell sounds, a red light goes on over the booth - and you slink out, face red, you having just proved yourself too stupid and/or ignorant to take part in the decisions of grownups. Better luck next election! No lower age limit in this system - smart 12-yr-old girls vote every election while some of their mothers - and fathers - decline to be humiliated twice.

[lightningandsnow]

8. What about people with learning disabilities?

I know you're semi-joking, but math skill does not equal intelligence.

Actually, I always had a hard time with quadratic equations. And yes, I do have an LD. I'm also extremely interested in politics, and most people say I am fairly bright.

A lack of math skill, or any specific academic skill, does not make one stupid or ignorant.

[hobbit709]

14. He used math as an example of thinking in a logical fashion.

[BootinUp]

13. of course there are some real concerns

with that idea. In our society, priviledge of birth still has much to do with quality of education.

[Harry Monroe]

18. I remember quadratic equations from my college days, but would not know how to solve one now!

I'ts been that long ago. A better idea may be to ask a few civics questions on our government. Nothing hard, just the ones we require prospective citizens to answer when they apply for US citizenship. That should weed out the ignorant. If you can't answer the questions that a person applying for citizenship is required to answer, then you are not qualified to vote!!

[backscatter712]

25. Interesting in theory, though real-life application is problematic - see Jim Crow.

The racist South did have "intelligence tests" before one was allowed to vote.

Except they were called "literacy tests", and they were engineered so that if you weren't the trivia-master of the American Constitution, Declaration of Independence, and national state and local politics, you absolutely would fail.

But if you were white, you didn't have to take the test - they applied the original Grandfather Clause - if your grandfather could vote, you could vote.

[hobbit709]

40. Apples and oranges.

Heinlein's premise was to be universally applied.
Everybody brings out the Jim Crow argument instead of noticing that universally applied means exactly that-no exceptions.

Unfortunately, stupid and willfully ignorant is no bar to voting, if it was the teabagger types wouldn't stand a chance.

[backscatter712]

45. You have an ideal scenario, and I bring out what happens after politicians fuck with it.

Another problem on top of having your intelligence test tampered with by politicians for political gain, is deciding what to put in the tests.

As mentioned earlier, using a quadratic equation culls out those who are not good at math, but math skills have very little to do with political awareness, and you may be culling out people who are very politically aware and deserve a vote.

There's basic literacy, but then again, lots of people know how to read and write, but know jack shit about politics.

You could directly test political and civic knowledge, but I'd say that out of all the possible things to test, that subject is the one that's most vulnerable to bias - somebody will try making a test that Democrats would find hard and Republicans would find easy. Or they'll try writing one that Latinos would have a hard time passing, etc.

[Book Lover]

48. Is that idea from his politically-neutral 1960's or his

conservative tilt in the 1980's?

Seriously, what problem does this little logical test solve? Voting is a universal right - just because you don't like how "stupid" some people are, does not mean you are allowed to deprive them of their franchise.

[Buns_of_Fire]

50. "And here is your personalized Voter Aptitude question, generated just for you:"

Choose the correct answer.

George W. Bush was:

A. The 43rd President of the United States
B. The second-greatest President ever, second only to Ronald Reagan
C. The dumbest piece of shit that ever walked on two legs
D. A former governor of Texas

Please enter your selection.....

==========

Now, answers (A) (C) and (D) will unlock the screen and allow a vote to be cast.

In addition, answer (C) will also deliver a piece of candy.

Answer (B) will open the trap door under the voting booth, dropping the person into a cage filled with rabid weasels.

Sounds fair to me.

[lightningandsnow]

9. I'm kind of on the fence about it.

I mean, part of me says you can't make people vote, but mandatory voting seems to be working fine for Australia.

[sufrommich]

11. No. We have enough stupid people voting. nt

[lonestarnot]

12. mmm mmm m. More bodies for da privateforprofit penitentiary business for Brewer and cronies.

[The Straight Story]

17. Better idea - outlaw all parties, a person runs based on what they say only

:)

[lightningandsnow]

19. I have to say, I liked our local election (no parties) better than our provincial and federal ones.

There were 15 people running for city council in my district! At least 5 of these would have done a good job on council, but the one I volunteered with - who won - was amazing! I'm not sure it would have been as exciting, or if we would have elected someone as good, if it was based on parties, since people tend to vote for the party rather than the person. Having no parties really forces people to look at exactly who it is they're voting for. (I was shocked to find out that our local mudslinging freeper was actually a member of the Liberal Party and not the Conservatives - if we had parties in this election, how many people might have been duped into voting for him?)

[leeroysphitz]

20. Um... I would rather that my county sheriff have as little to do with the voting process as possible

[librechik]

24. It's mandatory in Australia

They do ok

[johnfromokc]

30. It does seem to work well in Australia

I have friends and family in OZ and visited there last year. OZ also has an outstanding health care system and every citizen is covered. Plus, this "Great Recession" has been a tiny blip on their economic radar. We could learn a lot from them.

[librechik]

49. Citizens get a lot from their govt in OZ. There's direct involvement

and a smaller population

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

27. Only if they put "None of the above" or "Fuck You" on the ballot.

[Xenotime]

28. I agree with forcing people to vote. And should be forced to vote a certain way.

[de novo]

29. Bad idea. It would only increase the numbers of uniformed voters.

[proteus_lives]

31. Creepy.

[backscatter712]

32. I think we'll get more mileage by taking money out of the election game.

Make all elections, national, state or local, publicly financed, with no private money allowed.

Give each candidate some air time, some resources for Internet and newspaper advertising, but let them have all the volunteers they want.

Make it so corporations and their interest groups/front groups like the Chamber of Commerce can't buy our elections.

[End Of The Road]

34. Idiotic idea

Do you think mandatory voting would really cause people to be better informed, or more interested?

If you want to see "voter fraud" become a REAL issue, just make voting mandatory.

[Iggo]

44. Voter fraud IS a real issue.

And it works because most people don't vote.

[frogmarch]

36. I disagree. I don't want ill-informed people to vote. nt

[KansasVoter]

38. Yes, I want uninformed people voting just to stop from being arrested

[lunatica]

39. Nothing happens to you if you forget to do jury duty

I've forgotten I had jury duty and nothing ever happened. They've also summoned me to jury duty after I forgot. And your idea is a bad one. I just wish the idiots would stay home on election day.

[ipaint]

41. The dems de-funded Acorn.

The last thing they want is the dis-enfranchised, forgotten, poverty ridden underclass forced to vote.

They are quite happy with the "reasonable and educated" crowd that keeps putting them in office.

[Iggo]

43. Yep, at LEAST as mandatory as jusy duty. (n/t)

[treestar]

46. Some countries have it

Maybe there are some DUers who can share their experience.