In the United States could an individual state (or territory) make voting compulsory like it is in Australia or Brazil? Assume there’s a provision for conscientious objection that’s gets automatically approved and the penalty is really minor (like a small fine the state makes no effort to collect). If compulsory voting isn’t doable what about compulsory or automatic voter registration?
I suppose any state could TRY it. It would be appealed and repealed faster than you could say #2 pencil.
Many states essentially already have automatic voter registration via interaction with a government agency, e.g. the DMV, where you are automatically registered to vote unless you specifically opt out.
Compulsory voting itself would absolutely face Constitutional challenges under the 1st and 14th amendments.
Incentivize voting.
Look at it this way, if you don’t vote, you put our democracy at risk of being easily manipulated by a minority faction, possibly leading to demise of our democracy.
By not voting you are shirking that civil responsibility and pushing it onto the rest of us.
I suggest if you fail to vote every civic fee is increased a couple of bucks. Not a fortune $5 maximum. So parking ticket, drivers license, hunting license, wedding license, car plates, tow fee, land transfer, etc, etc.
Now you get to choose, step up, make some choices, participate, or pay a small fee for every municipal/provincial/federal usage fee. Can’t afford it? Then vote!
Except you missed the part about the sacrosanctity of ANONYMOUS VOTING. To be called out (how?) for not casting a vote is every bit as rotten as being forced to cast a vote for some psychotic dictator. Are you an America citizen? If so, your ninth grade Civics teacher failed you. Utterly.
Whether or not you voted is already a matter of public record, and is used by parties, PACs and other political organizations to assess fundraising, lobbying, e-mails, texts, and mailings. There is no such thing as the sanctity of anonymity in voting in the United States.
Then explain this (scroll down to the list of names)
(I am not on this list as this is not where I live, but I came across it the other day Googling somebody):
What’s this about the sacrosancticity of anonymous voting? Perhaps you should double check your facts before tsk-tsking another poster’s lack thereof.
A state could do so for state and local voting. There’s nothing to stop them, unless the Supreme Court decides to knock it down.
Only Congress can set the voting requirements for federal elections, though. Hence the 15th, 17th, 19th, 24th, and 26th Amendments.
Exactly. How you vote is private (or is supposed to be). Whether you vote apparently is not.
Technically, in Australia the requirement is to attend a polling place and have your name marked off the elector roll, and we’ve had that for 100 years now without the world exploding. At that point you get the ballot papers and, if you liked, you could doodle on them or origami a swan, and waste your vote without consequence. No one is watching to see that you have filled them in and dropped them in the ballot box.
I’m not sure what the equivalent compliance point in casting a postal / online ballot is, not having done it that way, but presumably its aligned with getting the ballot paper, rather than casting a valid vote.
While there is a large and growing postal and pre-voting component to Australian elections, the main things that I think encourages everyone to take part is:
- They are held on Saturdays, so most people are not working, and can come feeling relaxed while on the way to the beach or taking the dog for a walk.
- There is a national electoral commission [and ones in each state] which run polling day, so it is not a partisan exercise, electorates are not gerrymandered, the workers are volunteers from the community who don’t feel like some prick will accuse them of fraud, and there is nothing of the sense of toxicity that seems apparent from the US.
- Polling is usually held in town halls and school assembly halls. People leafletting have to stay a certain distance away, but P+C groups, for example, will run food stalls, including selling what has come to be called Democracy Sausages outside the actual voting venue. There is a general air of fun and contributing to community by attending a polling place, and usually kids and pets running around. I believe food and any sense of fun or occasion are forbidden in the US and UK.
- The political process is focussed on getting those in the centre to swing towards one side or the other, and obviously the more moderate the position the better the chance of picking up votes. In optional voting countries the effort is to get people off the sofa, and getting them all het up and angry about immigrants or how trans kids are flouridating our water is the way to do it. Compulsory voting serves to remove that need to mobilise the ratbags by making them angry.
- I think the best advertisement for compulsory voting has been the last decade of US elections. The only thing I’d like to see us adopt from anywhere is the final poll count announcement where the candidates all stand on stage together - like Rishi Sunak and Count Binface.
I live in a country with mandatory voting, and I trust our politics and public engagement a lot more than the situation in the US. But I also agree that it would be nigh impossible to implement in the US (anywhere at any level) without some major prerequisite cultural and political changes.
This is really a great idea. Instead of your license plate fee being, say, 40 bucks, it’s now 45 bucks. Your driver’s license charge went from 25 to 30 dollars.
IMO, voter participation would dramatically increase if something like this were instituted.
Different country. Different culture. Different laws. I lived in Oz for years and hated being forced to vote.
Overall, I’m not sure about the wisdom of requiring everyone to vote. It feels to me that people who are uninterested enough to not go to the polls are better off not voting. Do you really want an even more uninformed public voting?
Explain to me like I’m an 18 year old why I shouldn’t have the right to not vote?
While I personally think we should have the right to “not vote,” I guess the argument would be that we need people to vote, like we need people to serve on juries. It’s a civic responsibility and we expect every citizen to do it. As others have mentioned, though, it’s not enforceable. You can leave the ballot empty and still appear to have “voted.”
Those are two completely separate needs. Courts need a large potential jury pool so that defendants are not denied their 6th Amendment right to a trial by jury. The government does not need me to vote as long as someone eventually ends up elected.
This looks very much like a poll tax. I’m sure the arguments would be loud on either side, but voting or not voting costing money is not a good look.
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I’m not sure about the constitutional or political hurdles, but like jury duty or paying taxes or registering for Selective Services or getting an education, I do think there’s a place for mandating it. I do agree that exceptions should be allowed, including but not limited to turning in an empty ballot.
Practically, the only way I see this working is if voting is done by mail, with online and in-person being secondary options. Oregon for example mails ballots to all registered voters by default. Requiring in-person voting is going to be too onerous even if it’s moved to a weekend or to a new national holiday.