Toward the end of a speech and Q&A sessionย (about an hour and 10 minutes in) in Cleveland yesterday, President Barack Obama spoke a bit about reforming elections, complaining about money in politics, gerrymandering, and theย Citizens United decision. One “short term” solution he floated was to make voting mandatory, holding up Australia as an example.
“It would be transformative if everybody voted,” he said. “That would counter money more than anything.”
No, it wouldn’t, not really. Well, first of all, let’s backtrack to the idea. Mandatory voting is a violation of our civil rights, just as denying a citizen a right to vote is a violation. Casting a vote is speech. It is showing support or opposition to a candidate or proposal. Making voting mandatory means voting is no longer a right. It’s an obligation. It’s forced speech. If we were forced to attend a church, but had a choice of several churches, we would still (most of us, anyway) recognize that this is a violation of our freedom to decline to practice religion at all. Not voting isn’t just an expression of apathy. It’s also a form of protest.
Continue Reading At: ย http://reason.com/blog/2015/03/19/mandatory-voting-is-a-terribleand-insult
