To think voting should be compulsory

[TheoriginalLEM]

Im not sure what % of people didn't vote in this current shit show. But a significant number im sure. Even if there was a third "i don't give a fuck" option, we might have a clearer of what "the people" actually want.

I voted to stay but now i just want this over.

What a dangerous and authoritarian idea.

To be fair to OP, it was a misguided attempt at "brexit is shit", but unironically highlighted how politically uneducated they were.

Forced at gunpoint to vote? As mentioned above, people get a fine at most if they don't vote (although in fact people are almost never actually fined - the vote is compulsory more on paper than in practice).

I agree that citizenship education should be better to equip people for participation, however being well educated or well informed does not necessarily mean that people make better choices or can better see what outcomes might ensue.

Also what happens to the people who don’t vote do the police force them to vote? At gunpoint if necessary? Do we introduce prison sentences-with the current overcrowding I’m not so sure sure that’s a great idea.

Well, in Australia it’s a $20 fine, but I wouldn’t want that to interfere with you enjoying your histrionic flights of fancy there.

Well summed up, @Justanotherlurker.

Vote my way or you won't be able to vote at all....which is why the Chartist Movement wanted a secret ballot as one of their aims and thank goodness they won that right.

I don't think it was ever suggested, even by those from whom universal suffrage was eventually wrested, that one should have to pass an intelligence test. Flabby, dangerous thinking by flabby minded wanna be dictators.

I agree that citizenship education should be better to equip people for participation

Disregarding your follow on, how do we apply that?

Sweden is already having an issue with citizenship education. So what is the magic solution?

I thought the “I don’t give a fuck” vote was to hand in a blank ballot paper?

I don’t think this is a good idea because all of the idiots that have no idea what’s going on could just pick a box and completely skew the vote with absolutely no knowledge or education of what they are doing. Better that only people that actually have an opinion bother to go and do it I think.

Compulsory voting is relatively common.

If you don't want to make a choice fine, but get off your backside and go to the polling station and spoil your ballot paper.

But get of your lazy, self indulgent backside.

We are perfectly capable of educating ourselves, our predecessors taught themselves to read, organised themselves and fought for the right to vote. Now people whine because they might have to put a tick in a box.

Compulsory voting is relatively common.

Citation needed.

We could introduce mandatory voting, but on a basic level it would require ID, requiring proof of id muddies the waters of being discriminatory

Better that only people that actually have an opinion bother to go and do it I think.

The flipside is that in countries with compulsory voting, politicians actually have to make an effort to engage with all parts of the population and consider/reflect their issues, rather than ignoring a third of voters and never trying to make politics relevant and accessible.

It’s convenient to be able to put a lot of difficult issues in a box marked ‘no votes in this because the people it affects don’t usually vote.’

They have this in Australia. They shouldn’t for two good reasons:

1. It’s a pain
2. It distorts the vote. A lot of people donkey vote (they just put 12345 in the boxes in order) or just vote for something for the sake of it. The Australian vote is less representative of the will of the peoplethan the British one. Issuesalso arose around freedom of religion. Some Muslim theologies/clerics argue that democracy is unislamic or down right haram and, given how accommodating Britain is to hardline Muslims, mandatory voting may not be a good idea for that reason also, obviously this isn’t an issue for Australians.

We could introduce mandatory voting, but on a basic level it would require ID, requiring proof of id muddies the waters of being discriminatory

Citation needed.

obviously this isn’t an issue for Australians.

Religious grounds are one of the allowable exemptions to compulsory voting in Australia.

@windowsareforcheaters but some people have more important things to do with their time than dragging themselves to a polling station to spilt their ballot.

People who don't vote despite being physically capable of doing so are fucking stupid. I do not want such individuals to have a say in how the country is run.

@jassyradlett it was a joke because Australians aren’t particularly co cerbedwotj accommodating muslims.

Compulsory voting is relatively common.

Google it.

But no means do the majority of democracies use it but it is not uncommon.
Some countries have compulsory voting and don't enforce it.

Compulsory voting is the type of issue you get as a Politics A level question. Some countries do, most don't pros and cons. It is not an unusual or outrageous idea.

@jassyradlett it was a joke because Australians aren’t particularly co cerbedwotj accommodating muslims.

Was it? How... charming. Might want to work on that sense of humour.

As well as, clearly, your basic knowledge of subjects you’re expounding on.

No no no.
I hate it when people say they think voting should be compulsory. That’s not democratic, either!
Besides, in referendums and in general elections it pisses me off that people will vote without actually doing any research and you get ‘oh well I vote Tory because I always have’ or ‘we’ll my parents always voted labour so...’ and nobody even tries to make an informed decision by reading a manifesto.
Same with the referendum. My mother voted because she thought she would and her exact words ‘well I voted leave because I just thought I should vote’ or me saying to my sister, ‘ok, you voted leave last time, would you vote leave again?’ And her response ‘oh I don’t know, I don’t really understand it’

I would much rather people didn’t fucking bother if they don’t understand what they’re doing.

more important things to do with their time

And that attitude is why this country is in the mess it is in. We get the politicians we deserve because we have an electorate that think like this.

More important than what wars we fight, what taxes we pay, what health service we have, what social services we have, how we educate our children, our roads, bins, sewage and lets not forget our planet and global warming?

Yep that trip to Tesco is far more important. Ffs.

@ConstanceAggyboobs - DS & were discussing this recently. I'm not talking about the merits of Leave or Remain at all. After the Referendum there were incidents of hate crime against non European nationals which made it clear that people had no idea what the EU was. So qualifying questions to see if people understood what the actual question was.

Forcing people to vote? No, never. That's not democracy.

I like the idea of "None of these parties, I have no confidence in any of them". I would pick that every time based on what I've seen in my voting history.

I'd also love to see proportional representation being set up here - and for manifestos to be legally binding, ie. you say you, you're bound to it if you get elected, no excuses.

Having had the privilege of hearing first hand the true horror of what women went through to gain the right to vote from an actual sufferaget (my gfs great aunt) I have always voted, though sometimes I have purposely spoiled it by writing none of the above on it.
If we taught people the true value of voting and what it cost for us to gain that right they might actually care enough to vote.

I meant, "If you say it, you're bound to it".

I don't think voting should be compulsory.

However, I do think more people would be inclined to vote if manifestos were legally binding...

Making voting compulsory means that voters will no longer have the privilege to abstain. Sometimes voters don't vote as a protest. I don't always vote in council elections but always vote in General elections & voted in the referendum.

Even if there was a third "i don't give a fuck" option, we might have a clearer of what "the people" actually want.

How would a third option of I don’t give a fuck give a clearer option of what people want?