How could compulsory voting possibly improve the quality of our representative government?

Question

What advantages would there be to compulsory voting?
What disadvantages to permitting only well-informed to vote?
Would compulsory voting require a Constitutional ammendment?

Answer 1

Compulsory voting is a terrible idea that turns ordinary people into criminals. It forces the least informed and most apathetic people to vote, causing the vote to be skewed in the direction of complete idiocy. Yes, people who have learned about the issues should vote, but it should be their choice.

Answer 2

It would be against the American's constitutional rights to be compelled to vote. We in America have FREEDOM OF CHOICE, and that includes our right to choose not to vote. If we did, however, have compulsory voting we would hear from all qualified to vote, the poor, the disadvantaged, as well as the wealthy and more prosperous citizens. Hopefully, the citizens would want to become acquainted with the issues and the candidates, but with compulsory voting the disinterested as well as the informed would be required to take part. I'm afraid that to make voting compulsory would take a constitutional amendment, but most of the voters going to the polls now wouldn't vote for it (Just my opinion). Best of luck. Martha S. God Bless.

Answer 3

In reverse order:

"Would compulsory voting require a Constitutional amendment?"
Only if you were going to try it "from the top down," i.e., by the federal government. At the state level I believe it would be permissible.

"What disadvantages to permitting only well-informed to vote?"
You're going to get called a racist. Remember, we used to have literacy tests and the civil rights activists insisted that it was a smoke-screen for racial discrimination. In 1959, the U.S. Supreme Court disagreed with that assertion, but in 1965 Congress passed the Voting Rights Act to ban literacy tests. Given that law, how do you know whether or not a voter is "well-informed"?

"What advantages would there be to compulsory voting?"
Um, ....................... I can't think of a single one. But then, I'm not in favor of this whole idea, so I wouldn't be inclined to try and think of one.

"How could compulsory voting possibly improve the quality of our representative government?"
My answer would be that it wouldn't -- it'd make it worse. If you make people vote who don't want to then the most probable outcome would be that even more stupid people would get elected to office than are already there.

Answer 4

Compulsory voting would require a Constitutional contradiction- compelling Americans to do anything is unconstitutional.

Do you really want people who don't know or care about issues cancelling out the votes of passionate, interested, and educated voters?

Answer 5

here is an interesting for father fact when those guys were around they intended the voting age to be 21 do you know why. common sense.
It has been recently discovered that a human brain does not fully form until its 21 years old the frontal lobe responsible for decision making does not form until that age in fact its 26
Lowering the voting age has turned congress into a high school vote for most popular good looking NERDS with brains no longer get elected.
Lincoln would not stand a chance neither would both Roosevelt's
so your answer is NO

Answer 6

It would be a horrible idea. People who vote are already extremely uninformed -- 99.5% of people can't name the 5 freedoms given to the people in the 1st Amendment. I shudder to think what will happen if people who are even more ignorant are forced to vote. If they have no clue what a particular candidate represents and they don't want to vote, they shouldn't have to.

Answer 7

No advantage, but a lot more room for ballot rigging! It is bad enough now!

Most voters who do vote know very little about who they are voting for! Most vote their wallet!!

Answer 8

What are you talking about? You mean a pure democracy? Or are you saying that whay we have now it "cupulsory voting?"

Answer 9

um