Personally I think mandatory voting is a bad idea. It will not make then suddenly care, they will just vote for lolrolfcopter party.
The US does a lot of bad things around voting, but it being on a workday is probably the biggest hurdle. Most other countries have it on a weekend or holiday. That means that most people can go vote and not have to chose between potentially getting fired and vote. Which, to no surprise mostly affects lower income voters.
Also combined with the witch hunt on mail in voting makes it very hard for lower income people to vote. Which is by design.
SolidShake@lemmy.world 14 hours ago
Americans would cry about mandatory voting. World’s biggest snowflakes, I’m sure if that was proposed they’d just say "ugh but the constitution, freedom and stuff, stupid libs "
Flagstaff@programming.dev 14 hours ago
I don’t think it will ever even happen because the winning party may just always think, “Good, don’t vote; that allowed us to win more easily.”
FriendOfDeSoto@startrek.website 14 hours ago
I’m being put in a difficult situation here because I’m gonna have to go ahead and defend the American “snowflakes.” When it comes to interpreting the phrase “free elections” I think all democracies or close enough to that (which therefore includes the US) chose to say free means you’re also free not to participate. Except for the Aussies. And while I’m not an American snowflake, I’m still a snowflake because I agree with that interpretation. It wouldn’t just ruffle feathers in the US if mandatory election participation was prescribed. You can lead a horse to water but you cannot make it drink. Horse = voter, drink = vote. And I don’t think the Aussie governments of the last two decades have proven to be superior because they’re backed by a larger voter base. Remember the guy who ate raw onions?
otp@sh.itjust.works 11 hours ago
You don’t actually have to fill out the ballot. You can tell the voting officer that you decline it, you can write profanity on it, or you can vote for your dog.
It’s a minor civic duty. Much less onerous than jury duty, lol
gamermanh@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 hours ago
And you should be free to do that by not having to interact with someone
your options are shite and I refuse them all is a valid vote, why make it harder for someone to choose that than necessary?
LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net 12 hours ago
Agreed. Even though I think voting is the right thing to do, forcing people to vote is an infringement on their freedom and I don’t think it’s justified.
timbuck2themoon@sh.itjust.works 11 hours ago
When I think of the cost of that freedom it doesn’t seem too steep.
People want all the benefits but none of the responsibility, IMO.
I definitely see your viewpoint though.
metaldream@sopuli.xyz 4 hours ago
Literally saw some loser bragging about “his right to not vote” the other day. Every single one of these people is a fucking tool.
ultranaut@lemmy.world 13 hours ago
In the before times when we still had the rule of law, mandatory voting would almost certainly require an amendment to the constitution or else the Supreme Court would block it. Under current precedents the government generally can’t compel political speech.