A Proposal For Mandatory Voting — Hear Me Out

Photo by Elliott Stallion on Unsplash

What do Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Cyprus, Ecuador, Egypt, the Fiji Islands, Greece, Italiy, Lichtenstein, Luxembourg, Nauru, Paraguay, Peru, Singapore, Thailand, Turkey, Uruguay and one canton of Switzerland have in common? (Switzerland is a bunch of small countries in a trenchcoat).

Answer: Some degree of mandatory voting.

Mention it in the U.S., of course, and you will get a massive political argument. This is quite understandable because we have massive political arguments about everything.

Let’s get one thing out of the way:

I am 100% in favor of mandatory/compulsory voting. I am in favor of redefining the franchise as a responsibility rather than a right.

But I have some very strong ideas about the kind of reforms needed to make it fully work.

Let’s start by addressing the common objections to mandatory voting.

Objections to Mandatory Voting

1. It’s not fair to punish somebody for not being able to vote. I agree, and address that in my proposal.
2. Stupid people would vote. If you’re making this objection, then I’m going to be side eyeing you…because most people who say that really mean some other kind of…