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originally posted by: Beaux
Ask Australia where voting is mandatory. You can vote or be fined, your freedom of choice.
You'll NEVER topple a Government by NOT voting.
If you're an anarchist, and get ANY Government assistance of ANY kind (even down to driving on roads that were built by the Government), you're a hypocrite.
If you refuse to elect your rulers, then you have no say at all over who those rulers might be
even though you have to abide by their laws.
What an idiotic outlook.
originally posted by: Beaux
We are required to register with the Selective Service. We are required to register with Social Security. We are required to serve on juries. We can be summoned and subpoenaed to appear. We are required to renew licenses. We are required to provide proof of insurance on homes and cars.
But require us to vote!! Oh, what happened to our freedoms!!!
Every single person that considers themselves a "patriot" and a believer in the U.S. should WANT to vote and do so. It is not the voters hurting the country, it is the non-voters, those people that refuse to participate, share the burden, accept the responsibility of being a damned citizen and then bemoan the consequences. When less than half of the people vote and then barely half of them decide who is going to hold any public office then barely a quarter of the citizens are deciding for the rest. Democracy demands we each have an equal say and each person needs to accept that as a basic foundation of our country.
originally posted by: Beaux
Ask Australia where voting is mandatory. You can vote or be fined, your freedom of choice.
We are required to register with the Selective Service. We are required to register with Social Security. We are required to serve on juries. We can be summoned and subpoenaed to appear. We are required to renew licenses. We are required to provide proof of insurance on homes and cars.
But require us to vote!! Oh, what happened to our freedoms!!!
Every single person that considers themselves a "patriot" and a believer in the U.S. should WANT to vote and do so. It is not the voters hurting the country, it is the non-voters, those people that refuse to participate, share the burden, accept the responsibility of being a damned citizen and then bemoan the consequences. When less than half of the people vote and then barely half of them decide who is going to hold any public office then barely a quarter of the citizens are deciding for the rest. Democracy demands we each have an equal say and each person needs to accept that as a basic foundation of our country.
We have compulsory voting in Australia and I believe always have. It does provide a far more complete representation of what the majority wants. I was able to vote online this year for the first time in my life. Took all of 2 mins. Was simple and convenient. For this that manually vote it is also relatively convenient. Voting booths are everywhere.
originally posted by: coldkidc
WASHINGTON — They say the only two things that are certain in life are death and taxes. President Barack Obama wants to add one more: voting.
Obama floated the idea of mandatory voting in the U.S. while speaking to a civic group in Cleveland on Wednesday. Asked about the corrosive influence of money in U.S. elections, Obama digressed into the related topic of voting rights and said the U.S. should be making it easier — not harder— for people to vote.
"If everybody voted, then it would completely change the political map in this country," Obama said, calling it potentially transformative. Not only that, Obama said, but universal voting would "counteract money more than anything."
Mandatory voting? Obama says it would be 'transformative'
What are your thoughts ATS?
Do you think that this would actually help overcome the wealthy special interests that hold the ear of our congressmen?
Or...Would it allow for a system that is even easier to manipulate by producing predictable volumes of voters?
How much do you think they'd rake in from the additional fines?
I have a hunch this would end up becoming another Obamacare nightmare where the ones that can least afford it end up bearing the brunt of the penalties.
Obama touts it's " benefits" but I'm skeptical that many of those vaunted "benefits" would ever materialize.
I doubt corporate interests would so easily allow the people to actually control their fate.
Besides, I've never been a fan of "mandatory" anything - I say no to this brainchild.
It appears that if this is more than talk there may be one more freedom in the crosshairs - the freedom to "opt out".
originally posted by: inquisitivenature
We have compulsory voting in Australia and I believe always have.