A Case Against Mandatory Voting

[Geee]

American Spectator:

Big government "solutions" for every social problem under the sun are all around us. I thought I'd seen them all -- until recently, when I found myself debating a statist proposal to cure apathy. Norman Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute and I recently debated mandatory voting. He argued in favor and I in opposition. Ornstein brought up many interesting points, however, and I feel compelled to present my thorough responses below. I have always held the expansion of liberty as the most important goal of public policy, but it cannot be achieved through forceful regulation. The use of force to encourage freedom, I believe, is self-contradictory and practically and morally wrong.
Mandatory attendance at polls is still mandatory voting.

Ornstein was quick to point out that he doesn't necessarily support mandatory voting, but rather, in accordance with the system currently in place in Australia, "mandatory attendance at the polls." To me, this is just an attempt to deflect attention from the "mandatory" part. Poll "attendees" are still required to cast a ballot, and in Australia those who fail to do so -- even if they showed up at the polls -- can be prosecuted. Even choosing "none of the above" or "X," as is possible in Australia, involves casting a vote.

Ornstein touted as a success the fact that, under Australia's compulsory system, only about three percent of voters write in "X." Meanwhile, in America, over 40 percent of eligible voters don't even go to the polls in any given election. So Australia is better off, right? If Ornstein's goal is to get only three percent of eligible American voters choosing "none of the above," then he will also have to deal with 37 percent of uninformed, disinterested, and apathetic Americans being forced to cast ballots for candidates about whom they know little, if anything at all. What good could come of that?

[Valin]

[Geee]

 

 

[Valin]

Geee

 

[Geee]

Thank you Valin. I have read a couple of his books, but never heard him speak before.

[pollyannaish]

Thank you Valin. I have read a couple of his books, but never heard him speak before.

 

He is the token conservative on a NPR news gameshow my family and I listen too. It's very funny and we love it when he is on. He represents us well.

 

He's also written for one of my (formerly) favorite magazines, Car and Driver. He is great on any topic.