Should voting be made compulsory?

NIMAN

I think that for all the bitching that members of the public so re: politicians, cuts, services etc, and then to have a voting rate of roughly 1 in 2 is a bit of a joke.

I think it would be a good idea to make voting compulsory.

Thoughts?

Captain Chaos

Only if they add the option of no confidence to any choice on the ballot as a protest vote. Then I would vote. Otherwise it's just me picking who I hate the least. Corruption is too widespread in the government to make me want to vote as it is. Makes no odds who get's what positions as they all have to be on of the lads once they are in.

househero

No.

You will just get spoiled ballots by forcing people.

I don't like your right wing method.

But increasing participation is a Nobel aspiration... Maybe it could be achieved by making voting easier (texting/online) with proof of id or your PRS number to stop abuse. Logging IPS??? for checking in case of irregularities.

padma

No...sometimes people cant get to a polling station..have no interest in voting why should they vote

melekalikimaka

id rather see an exam at the booth, 20 questions on the vote issue, if you pass you vote is counted, if not, its spoilt, this would mean the valid votes are based on informed people and not ignorant votes that are causing our problems, forcing people to vote would only increase the ignorant votes. The country doesn't need more of that

hatrickpatrick

househero wrote: »

No.

You will just get spoiled ballots by forcing people.

I don't like your right wing method.

But increasing participation is a Nobel aspiration... Maybe it could be achieved by making voting easier (texting/online) with proof of id or your PRS number to stop abuse. Logging IPS??? for checking in case of irregularities.

This. The main impediment I know of to young people voting (speaking fr my own friends here at least) is that many live away from home during college term and therefore it's entirely hit and miss whether they'll be near their polling station at the time of a poll.

oscarBravo

hatrickpatrick wrote: »

The main impediment I know of to young people voting (speaking fr my own friends here at least) is that many live away from home during college term and therefore it's entirely hit and miss whether they'll be near their polling station at the time of a poll.

They have the option of a postal vote.

Dymo

I'd like to see an option where if you didn't vote in 2 straight elections you are taken off the register and have to apply to get your name on it.

It would clean up the register by removing people who weren't living in the area and it would encourage people to vote if they wanted the right to vote.

NIMAN

I still think even a spoiled vote or a 'no confidence' vote would be worthwhile, as it would show the parties and politicians that people made the effort to go to the polling booth and decided to still spoil their vote, hence they might take a look at themselves.

Its just that I hear so many people I chat to at work and among friends complain about this and that in the political system, then in the next breath say they rarely vote. For me you can't complain if you don't use your vote to try to make change.

Full list of countries with compulsory voting

Austria
Argentina
Australia
Belgium
Bolivia
Brazil
Chile
Costa Rica
Cyprus
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
Egypt
Fiji
France (senate only)
Gabon
Greece
Guatemala
Honduras
Italy
Liechtenstein

Luxembourg
Mexico
Nauru
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines
Singapore
Switzerland (Schaffhausen)
Thailand
Turkey
Uruguay

Aint Eazy Being Cheezy

No. There are some people who go about their lives with their head in the clouds, not knowing or caring what's going on around them. The last thing we need is these scatterbrains opinions on the running of the country.

Let anyone who wants to take an interest cast their vote, and leave all the other dead fish to go with the flow.

melekalikimaka

NIMAN wrote: »

For me you can't complain if you don't use your vote to try to make change.

this statement is ridiculous. Why bother voting if you dont understand the topic, just go in to spoil it so i can discuss it afterwards?

Arthur Beesley

NIMAN wrote: »

I still think even a spoiled vote or a 'no confidence' vote would be worthwhile, as it would show the parties and politicians that people made the effort to go to the polling booth and decided to still spoil their vote, hence they might take a look at themselves.

Its just that I hear so many people I chat to at work and among friends complain about this and that in the political system, then in the next breath say they rarely vote. For me you can't complain if you don't use your vote to try to make change.

Full list of countries with compulsory voting

Austria
Argentina
Australia
Belgium
Bolivia
Brazil
Chile
Costa Rica
Cyprus
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
Egypt
Fiji
France (senate only)
Gabon
Greece
Guatemala
Honduras
Italy
Liechtenstein

Luxembourg
Mexico
Nauru
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines
Singapore
Switzerland (Schaffhausen)
Thailand
Turkey
Uruguay

Wow. Did you 'bing' it?

No.

Manach

No. It changes the dynamic between state and citizen. To compel under force of law the act of voting implies a subservient role in a pagent that effects the outward manifestations of the state: the politicians, but leaves the levers of power within the state's grasp - the constant bureaucracy.
For better or worst, voter initiatives such as in California or Switzerland would better devolve power to people instead of the enforcement of how the state would prefer them to act.

Cookie_Monster

NZ has a decent system I think. You must be registered to vote once applicable but there is no requirement to actually vote. It means the have an accurate overall idea of the numbers and where those numbers are for many purposes other than just elections as well.

househero

oscarBravo wrote: »

They have the option of a postal vote.

The 'Young' stopped using post box's 20 years ago.

It is easier to change a central system than hundreds of thousands of peoples behaviour.

(If increasing participation is the objective)

Silly question time, but if everyone received ONE voting card, why do we need to go to the voting station we're registered in? Why can't we hand our polling card in and get a ballot in any of the polling stations nationwide? Especially for National Elections, not too sure how it would work on locals.

househero

More to the point...

Why are we using a pencil and a bit of paper and then counting manually, over and over.

As if computers are a new invention

Aint Eazy Being Cheezy

househero wrote: »

More to the point...

Why are we using a pencil and a bit of paper and then counting manually, over and over.

As if computers are a new invention

We should get some electronic voting machines in. Call them e-voting machines for short.. oh, hang on....

ryan101

househero wrote: »

More to the point...

Why are we using a pencil and a bit of paper and then counting manually, over and over.

As if computers are a new invention

Have you an empty shed somewhere ?

sin_city

NIMAN wrote: »

I think that for all the bitching that members of the public so re: politicians, cuts, services etc, and then to have a voting rate of roughly 1 in 2 is a bit of a joke.

I think it would be a good idea to make voting compulsory.

Thoughts?

I love George Carlin's take on this....Basically..the people that vote elect the idiots we have....People that don't vote have nothing to do with it.

hatrickpatrick

oscarBravo wrote: »

They have the option of a postal vote.

Not quite

If you are registered as a postal voter, you may vote by post only. You may not vote at a polling station.

This is also absurd, as it requires people to vote by post even if the election happens to occur when they're in their home town.
They key here is flexibility - the system should take into account that people's plans change. It's far too rigid for the modern world in which being busy, travelling, and above all not always having predictable plans are the norm for a massive proportion of the population.

oscarBravo

hatrickpatrick wrote: »

This is also absurd, as it requires people to vote by post even if the election happens to occur when they're in their home town.
They key here is flexibility - the system should take into account that people's plans change. It's far too rigid for the modern world in which being busy, travelling, and above all not always having predictable plans are the norm for a massive proportion of the population.

Jesus. I'm starting to get the impression that students won't stop whining about how haaaaard it is to vote until someone figures out a way of delivering the polling station to their bedroom.

Amirani

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Silly question time, but if everyone received ONE voting card, why do we need to go to the voting station we're registered in? Why can't we hand our polling card in and get a ballot in any of the polling stations nationwide? Especially for National Elections, not too sure how it would work on locals.

Large numbers of voters could make a political decision to vote in another constituency.

GoodLord

Did anyone have or see a no canvasser sign? i only know of one person that had yet only 50% vote?

hatrickpatrick

oscarBravo wrote: »

Jesus. I'm starting to get the impression that students won't stop whining about how haaaaard it is to vote until someone figures out a way of delivering the polling station to their bedroom.

It's not just students, it's anyone who has homes in multiple parts of the country really. It should be flexible, because people's live in this day and age tend to be flexible and unpredictable.

ryan101

I'd rather see honesty in politics, and anti corruption measures being made compulsory in Irish politics first. Then by all means bring in compulsory voting.

was.deevey

The 'Young' stopped using post box's 20 years ago.

They should start using x-boxes to vote :P - paused games until you do your duty !

FloatingVoter

Its extremely easy for students to vote. Any students union can advice the disenfranchised student on how to move his place of voting from his/her hometown to the place where they attend college. This would involve talking to a member of the students Union about something other than where the next piss-iup is though.
The really clever students could find out how to do this by googling it themselves.
Its also practice for when they grow up and have to move to another town to find work or sign on.

GoodLord

ryan101 wrote: »

I'd rather see honesty in politics, and anti corruption measures being made compulsory in Irish politics first. Then by all means bring in compulsory voting.

good luck with that. i would not put honesty and politics in the same sentence

ryan101

GoodLord wrote: »

good luck with that. i would not put honesty and politics in the same sentence

That's because honest people, for good reason, don't go into Irish politics, hence the endemic corruption and lies

GoodLord

ryan101 wrote: »

That's because honest people, for good reason, don't go into Irish politics, hence the endemic corruption and lies

it is because irish politics is based on local gombeenism with people getting jobs on nepotism and people voting for some local gombeen because he 'got' them a medical card. So local gombeens end up in national politics.

ryan101

GoodLord wrote: »

it is because irish politics is based on local gombeenism with people getting jobs on nepotism and people voting for some local gombeen because he 'got' them a medical card. So local gombeens end up in national politics.

You get what you vote for.

GoodLord

ryan101 wrote: »

You get what you vote for.

you are now contradicting yourself

ryan101

GoodLord wrote: »

you are now contradicting yourself

No, but it looks like it's gone over your head. The Irish people get what the Irish people vote for.