Obama: Maybe it's time for mandatory voting

[Dave]

In possibly one of the dumbest ideas... and scariest... the president has suggested something that really in my mind goes against the principles of this great country. Its bad enough we are now required to purchase something (healthcare) thanks to him, to even suggest this is just insane. While its true that there are European countries that do have mandatory voting, simply put, those are different countries... they are not the USA! As Americans, we have the right to vote.... and the right to not vote if we don't feel a candidate is worthy of our vote. Even the thought that a person would be fined or something even dumber for not voting in a mandatory election is reprehensible as far as I'm concerned.

(CNN) The president whose major policy achievement is mandatory health insurance thinks maybe voting should be mandatory, too.

Asked how to offset the influence of big money in politics, President Barack Obama suggested it's time to make voting a requirement.

"Other countries have mandatory voting," Obama said Wednesday in Cleveland, where he spoke about the importance of middle class economics, and was asked about the issue during a town hall.

"It would be transformative if everybody voted -- that would counteract money more than anything," he said, adding it was the first time he had shared the idea publicly.

The clout of millionaires and billionaires in campaign funding has been enormous, and many claim the uber wealthy have undue leverage in politics.

"The people who tend not to vote are young, they're lower income, they're skewed more heavily towards immigrant groups and minority groups," Obama said. "There's a reason why some folks try to keep them away from the polls."

At least 26 countries have compulsory voting, according to the Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance. Failure to vote is punishable by a fine in countries such as Australia and Belgium; if you fail to pay your fine in Belgium, you could go to prison.

Aside from campaign finance issues, the United States also grapples with one of the lowest voter turnout rates among developed countries.

Less than 37% of eligible voters actually voted in the 2014 midterm elections, according to The Pew Charitable Trusts. That means about 144 million Americans -- more than the population of Russia -- skipped out.

But mandatory voting could bring its own set of problems. Haydon Manning, associate professor at Flinders University in Australia, said that country's rules can backfire.

"Turning the vote out might not be a problem, but wooing disengaged citizens now requires banal sloganeering and crass misleading negative advertising," Manning wrote. "To me, this can diminish the democratic experience for those who take the time to think through the issues."

http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/19/politics/obama-mandatory-voting/

[XLFD]

A simple refutation of mandatory voting is to note that voting is a right you can choose to exercise or not.  A right that a government makes mandatory and forces sanctions on you if you fail to express that right, is no longer a right, but an obligation to the state. 

Freedom of speech (which voting is a form of) allows you to say what you want, but it also allows you to remain silent, which is often a good course to follow.  Freedom of religion does not permit the state to require you go to church each Sunday, even if they allow you a wide variety of churches to go to.  Each of our rights and freedoms can be expressed by not exercising them; millions of Americans do not own guns even though they have the right to.  Do you think Obama will mandate next that every non-felon must buy a gun and open carry them?

As if. 

[Willy]

For a President he sure sounds ignorant. His comments makes no sense. Money buys politicians and negative/deceitful political advertising. The negative adds are what sway uninformed voters and the more uninformed voters there are the better the chances we will remain under the thumb of politicians like Obama. It's the ignorance and one sided press that has allowed Obama to be elected and helped him keep the position he holds.

Another thing is how he continues to make whites out to be racists as he states in his comment regarding that some "folks" keep trying to keep minorities and immegrints away from the polls. "The people who tend not to vote are young, they're lower income, they're skewed more heavily towards immigrant groups and minority groups," Obama said. "There's a reason why some folks try to keep them away from the polls." He is a monumental trouble maker. Nobody is trying to keep people away from the polls. This another scam he is trying to pull just like the "war on women" lies.

[AQUAMAN]

Thanks for the thread Dave, revealing. This arrogant outspoken Prez is never a true uniter of the U.S. people as he always declared he would be. He's a people divider, class divider, citizenship divider, race divider, and everything he does and says expounds and amplifies that feeling and actions. Very well said Willy, ignorance is the key to veiled success such as your prime examples.