Mandatory Voting For All US Citizens, Good Idea Or Not?

[herakles]

I like this idea right here! We could even take it a step further and go full Starship Trooper and everyone has to serve in the military to become a full citizen, I bet your ass then people would pay attention to who the hell they vote for when they have the power to ship your ass out to war

Damn I forgot about Starship Troopers! That would definitely change how and when we wage war. It would also change who we vote for in a heart beat.

 

[XtremelyBaneful]

Only if they make it convenient. I didn't vote last time around because I'm not gonna stand on a stupid long ass line in the cold just pull a lever.

 

[herakles]

Republicans would never allow that. Between Voter ID laws,

Question, what exactly is so wrong about voter id laws???? Simply showing a poll worker your id is NO different then showing a Bank teller your ID, a Bar bouncer your ID, a doctor's office your id, or government worker your id. There so many reasons why we need ID.

 

[hippie_hunter]

Well it's mainly in regards to the everybody votes idea. I know everybody votes generally would favor the Democrats most likely which is why I don't mind the idea. lol

That is still a horrible thing to say. And I think that's an overly broad generalization.

 

[hippie_hunter]

I like this idea right here! We could even take it a step further and go full Starship Trooper and everyone has to serve in the military to become a full citizen, I bet your ass then people would pay attention to who the hell they vote for when they have the power to ship your ass out to war

Do I get to fight gigantic bug monsters?

 

[SV Fan]

That is still a horrible thing to say. And I think that's an overly broad generalization.

They did a poll last election(2012) of people who didn't vote, Dems won with like 65% of the people saying they prefer them over Republicans(once you factor out the huge amount of people that would vote third parties(~25%))

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/politics/story/2012-08-15/non-voters-obama-romney/57055184/1

Here is another post election poll that has similar numbers

http://www.scribd.com/doc/116711284/2012-Nonvoter-Survey-REPORT

Obama - 44%, Romney - 26%, Other - 11%, Not Sure - 19%

Now looking at the second survey which breaks down why people didn't vote the 3 worst categories that stick out are 1. No Time, 2. No Way to get to the polls 3. Working(which combined for 22%)

Question, what exactly is so wrong about voter id laws???? Simply showing a poll worker your id is NO different then showing a Bank teller your ID, a Bar bouncer your ID, a doctor's office your id, or government worker your id. There so many reasons why we need ID.

As I pointed out above if the republicans really wanted to go after voter fraud they should be attacking absentee ballots which is the biggest offender of voter fraud. The fact they don't should give you an idea what their motivation is with all these voter fraud laws(ie absentee ballots generally favor republicans)

 

[hippie_hunter]

Question, what exactly is so wrong about voter id laws???? Simply showing a poll worker your id is NO different then showing a Bank teller your ID, a Bar bouncer your ID, a doctor's office your id, or government worker your id. There so many reasons why we need ID.

Frankly I find both arguments for and against voter ID laws to be utterly shallow. On paper, there really isn't anything wrong about showing a simple ID to prove who you are in order to vote. But the reality is that voter fraud is so miniscule and almost nonexistent to the point where they're really not needed. And truth be told, the reason why the GOP is pushing for these laws is to make it harder for Democratic leaning demographics to vote. At the same time, Democrats like to paint it as racism, even though it really isn't.

The whole voter ID debate has become nothing but stupid arguing with the stupid.

 

[SV Fan]

Frankly I find both arguments for and against voter ID laws to be utterly shallow. On paper, there really isn't anything wrong about showing a simple ID to prove who you are in order to vote. But the reality is that voter fraud is so miniscule and almost nonexistent to the point where they're really not needed. And truth be told, the reason why the GOP is pushing for these laws is to make it harder for Democratic leaning demographics to vote. At the same time, Democrats like to paint it as racism, even though it really isn't

I have nothing against Voter ID, but if you enact these laws

1. You should come to some bipartisan consensus about it so both sides can express their potential issues with it and make this part of a bigger voting rights bill. The Main problem with alot of these voter fraud bills coming up in states they obviously have an agenda

2. You should make them easy to obtain and free(and that includes everything required to obtain that ID such as getting a birth certificate)

If the Democrats were smart they would call the Republicans out on Voter IDs by coming up with a plan to get everybody an ID and make that a nationwide mandate, once you make it easy to obtain that ID you will see Republicans backing away from Voter IDs quickly.

 

[HaplessHenchman]

I voted no. You can't make people vote. It's my right to vote or not.

 

[hippie_hunter]

I have nothing against Voter ID, but if you enact these laws

1. You should come to some bipartisan consensus about it so both sides can express their potential issues with it and make this part of a bigger voting rights bill. The Main problem with alot of these voter fraud bills coming up in states they obviously have an agenda

2. You should make them easy to obtain and free(and that includes everything required to obtain that ID such as getting a birth certificate)

If the Democrats were smart they would call the Republicans out on Voter IDs by coming up with a plan to get everybody an ID and make that a nationwide mandate, once you make it easy to obtain that ID you will see Republicans backing away from Voter IDs quickly.

That's the way I see it, if you're going to implement voter ID laws, then the states should make it easier to obtain one and make the first or first replacement one free.

 

[Taarna]

No for mandatory voting.

Yes for ID required to vote and stiff penalties for voting fraud

 

[jmc]

You all realise that you don't actually have to vote even if it was mandatory right?

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

No for mandatory voting.

Yes for ID required to vote and stiff penalties for voting fraud

Do you really believe voter fraud is such a big problem it requires broad change in voting policy?

Or are you just pretending to be outraged about voter fraud?

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

Even with mail-in ballots, many counties in Oregon still rarely see over 80% turnout in presidential elections. Midterms and primaries are even worse, with 65-70% turnout being on the high-end. Just because it seems more convenient, it doesn't exactly encourage any higher turnout when compared to the older physical polling booths. Typically, ballots are sent out anywhere from 2-4 weeks before election day so if people can't bother to vote or even register in that period of time, then that just reinforces my belief that only those in-tune enough with the issues and candidates should bother casting their votes.

70% turnout for a midterm is still huge.

 

[Thundercrack85]

Voter ID laws are the biggest Trojan horse since... well, Odysseus built that damn wooden horse.

 

[Webfoot Hero]

70% turnout for a midterm is still huge.

Considering the county I live in only has a registered voter rate of 60-65%, that 70% for a midterm still means a lot of people didn't turn a ballot in even though they got one 2-4 weeks in advance of election day.

 

[SV Fan]

Voter ID laws are the biggest Trojan horse since... well, Odysseus built that damn wooden horse.

More then Voter ID, I think it's all the Voter "fraud" laws that Republican legislators are trying to introduce are a pile of BS. As I said I have nothing against Voter ID laws but the Republicans should be going out of there way to make these bills as bipartisan as possible instead of pushing a bunch of voting laws that obviously has an agenda.

 

[moviedoors]

Include "none of the above" as an option, and extend the period from a day to a week, and then you might have something.

Even a national holiday doesn't cover everybody. I work at a dog kennel. There has to be a staff there every single day, whether the office is open or not. Dogs aren't going to get the memo and just not need to eat or poop for a whole day.

So yeah, make it a ****ing week.

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

So far it looks like almost nobody is down with the mandatory voting idea here on the Hype. Very interesting

 

[Thundercrack85]

Not too surprising. This forum is dominated by the demographic least likely to vote.

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Really? What demographic is that? Males in there 20's-30's?

 

[Pink Ranger]

Not too surprising. This forum is dominated by the demographic least likely to vote.

Really? What demographic is that? Males in there 20's-30's?

Highly opinionated people under 40 who use online and social media a lot to voice their views about everything under the sun but rarely step out from behind their screens or put down their phones to do anything about it or engage in the real world.

 

[Greens]

Highly opinionated people under 40 who use online and social media a lot to voice their views about everything under the sun but rarely step out from behind their screens or put down their phones to do anything about it or engage in the real world.

"Get off my lawn!"

 

[Schlosser85]

I vote, but I don't think the government has the right to force people to.

 

[Hypestyle]

"absentee" voting ballots sent to your residence should be the standard at this point. Lots of people don't know enough about who's running or also don't know much about the language of any proposals being offered. Many people are "blindsided" by what they see on the ballot when they show up to their polling place. That, on top of whatever state standards are in paper or electronic balloting. hole punching, scanned checkoffs, etc. More universal standards need to come into place. Particularly for the working poor, those without access to a personal car and the elderly, not everyone can make it to the polls on a single Tuesday, 8 p.m. deadline or not.