I think that voting for the president of America should be made mandatory. If only a certain amount of Americans vote we can guess that only they are educated about our countries politics and that we are deciding on a president based on their opinions and not the nations population as a whole.
If voting was mandatory for every American that is eighteen years old or older then it would guarantee that most Americans would know what was happening with their nations government. Everyone would be automatically registered to vote by the government when they turn eighteen years old. The elected president would be based upon every American's choice as a whole instead of just the select group that want to me informed and want to vote.
This would also strengthen our country as a democracy. It would involve every American in the governmental process ensuring that no adult ignorant about the government. And as the adult's children grow up they will also learn about the government through their parents and watching as their parents go through the process of educating themselves and voting.
This could help in voting for a president that will truefully help our country and be the right leader for us.
I take your point but I don't ever want to vote for the people who run for the executive office in this country. I never want to say that I'm responsible for what someone does if it is out of my control.
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/jloigman
Isnt forcing everyone to vote a bit unconstitutional? And besides there are plenty of people who vote who are very ill-informed.
Although I think voting is very important and everyone should do it I'm not sure if making voting mandatory is the thing to do. I am registered to vote and will be voting in the next presidential election and I take the time to watch the debates and speeches and such but not everyone does. America cannot guarantee that everyone will be well informed of what the candidates stand for. Voting apathy is something that needs to be improved but the fact is that not everyone cares enough about the president that if they did vote, it would be as good as playing eeny meeny miny moe to pick the president of the United States and I don't want that to happen either.
Forcing people who don't want to vote to vote won't guarantee anything other than people grumpily showing up and voting for whoever based on whatever trivial reason. Maybe some of the forced-to-votes will do homework, but seeing as most choose-to-votes don't, I don't see why we should think that. I can also bet that the percentage of votes Santa Clause gets will be a lot higher than usual.
"Don't blame me. I voted for Kodos."
Homer Simpson
I suspect there would be a strong trend towards whoever was on the top of the ballot.
Unless, I'm very much mistaken, voting was compulsory for Ancient Athenians. How did that turn out for them? I'm not being rhetorical here; I'd like someone to tell me how well their democracy worked. I think we stress egalitarian values very strongly in this country, and that's a good thing; but to give the those that don't care the same power as those that do is an unsettling thought.
Ya I guess you're right. i just wish more people would educate themselves and vote upon the information they learned and their beliefs on that information.