# Could a state make voting compulsory?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-state-make-voting-compulsory/1015139>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [March 5, 2025, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-state-make-voting-compulsory/1015139 "2025-03-05T01:41:23Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 3

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\
**Post date:** [March 7, 2025, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-state-make-voting-compulsory/1015139/41 "2025-03-07T03:25:40Z")

</div>

**Moderating**

Since we have veered off pretty well outside of FQ territory, let’s move this to IMHO.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![fedman1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e495f1/32.png) [@fedman1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fedman1)\
**Post date:** [March 9, 2025, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-state-make-voting-compulsory/1015139/42 "2025-03-09T02:50:08Z")

</div>

but registration does not equate to actually voting

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\
**Post date:** [March 9, 2025, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-state-make-voting-compulsory/1015139/43 "2025-03-09T20:29:07Z")

</div>

> [@elbows](#):
>
> 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.

The problem is that the people who can’t even be bothered to vote are probably at higher risk of being easily manipulated.

Voters on average have more wealth, income and education than non-voters. They’re already (sadly) the top 60% of the bell curve.

[![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/54/Voter_Turnout_by_Educational_Attainment%2C_2008_US_Presidential_Election.png/400px-Voter_Turnout_by_Educational_Attainment%2C_2008_US_Presidential_Election.png) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/54/Voter_Turnout_by_Educational_Attainment%2C_2008_US_Presidential_Election.png/400px-Voter_Turnout_by_Educational_Attainment%2C_2008_US_Presidential_Election.png)

As far as fascism and the demise of democracy, among white voters the more education you have the less likely you are to support fascism.

Here is the election results if only people with a bachelors degree or higher voted.

> **[An Election Map that Asks "What if Only Educated People Voted?" and a...](https://ordinary-times.com/2024/11/13/an-election-map-that-asks-what-if-only-educated-people-voted-and-a-follow-up-question/)**
>
> Some heatmaps and an essential question.

[![](https://i0.wp.com/ordinary-times.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/degree.jpg?ssl=1) ](https://i0.wp.com/ordinary-times.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/degree.jpg?ssl=1)

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-state-make-voting-compulsory/1015139.md?page=2)