They should tie voting to social benefits

OU812 · 25-05-2018 3:32pm #1

Voting is a civic duty. People died for the right to be able to do so & its the duty of every person eligible to get out and cast their ballot in the way they want.

Your vote is anonymous, but ticking you off the electoral roll is not. Use these lists & get awarded extra social benefits if you turn up and cast your vote. This could be an extra benefit in retirement or when you most need it when unemployed. Every time there’s an election or a referendum you get rewarded. Alternatively if you don’t, you lose something.

100% of eligible voters should be casting their votes. There no excuse for saying you’re not able to do so.

Either that or give voters a sticker. Whichever works.

o1s1n · 25-05-2018 3:33pm

What would the benefit of this be?

blue note · 25-05-2018 3:33pm

.

Jim Bob Scratcher · 25-05-2018 3:34pm

Another thread on this? Thank **** this shoite will be over tomorrow!

Conservatory · 25-05-2018 3:34pm

Yes we should definitely have a system where people with no interest in the topic should just randomly pick an answer.
Genius.

Beric Dondarrion · 25-05-2018 3:35pm

OU812 wrote: »

Voting is a civic duty. People died for the right to be able to do so & its the duty of every person eligible to get out and cast their ballot in the way they want.

Your vote is anonymous, but ticking you off the electoral roll is not. Use these lists & get awarded extra social benefits if you turn up and cast your vote. This could be an extra benefit in retirement or when you most need it when unemployed. Every time there’s an election or a referendum you get rewarded. Alternatively if you don’t, you lose something.

100% of eligible voters should be casting their votes. There no excuse for saying you’re not able to do so.

Either that or give voters a sticker. Whichever works.

Sounds fair......if they start including a "none of the above" option in general election ballots.

Your Face · 25-05-2018 3:35pm

Good luck enforcing it.

25-05-2018 3:36pm

OU812 wrote: »

Voting is a civic duty. People died for the right to be able to do so & its the duty of every person eligible to get out and cast their ballot in the way they want.

Your vote is anonymous, but ticking you off the electoral roll is not. Use these lists & get awarded extra social benefits if you turn up and cast your vote. This could be an extra benefit in retirement or when you most need it when unemployed. Every time there’s an election or a referendum you get rewarded. Alternatively if you don’t, you lose something.

100% of eligible voters should be casting their votes. There no excuse for saying you’re not able to do so.

Either that or give voters a sticker. Whichever works.

It's very easy for people to say this around the time of a vote they really care about. While there's merit to your argument, I don't think it would improve the "accuracy" of a vote. ie. What the population wants.

Mint Sauce · 25-05-2018 3:36pm

Going back to my Polling Centre to raid the stationary press for my gold star.

Or maybe I should just be proud, and thankful, that I took part in my civic duty, afforded to me from those before.

whisky_galore · 25-05-2018 3:37pm

OU812 wrote: »

and cast their ballot in the way they want.

Including spoiling it?

somefeen · 25-05-2018 3:37pm

People died for your right to be forced to form a definite binary decision on a complex issue

whisky_galore · 25-05-2018 3:38pm

somefeen wrote: »

People died for your right to be forced to form a definite binary decision on a complex issue

People died for lots of things. Including religion which many reject now.

OU812 · 25-05-2018 3:38pm

whisky_galore wrote: »

Including spoiling it?

While I don’t agree with it, it’s a legitimate form of protest.

I also agree there should be a none of the above inclusion.

super_furry · 25-05-2018 3:39pm

Service Guarantees Citizenship. Would you like to know more?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7FaWnlhS4

Allinall · 25-05-2018 3:41pm

They were giving out prams when I voted earlier.

gctest50 · 25-05-2018 3:42pm

somefeen wrote: »

People died for your right to be forced to form a definite binary decision on a complex issue

This is what you are voting on is like :

Imagine you are not sure if you want the lawnmower, strimmer, clipper or weedkiller

Not much point until you unlock the garden shed is it ?

Allinall · 25-05-2018 3:47pm

They were giving out prams when I voted earlier.

Graces7 · 25-05-2018 3:48pm

OU812 wrote: »

Voting is a civic duty. People died for the right to be able to do so & its the duty of every person eligible to get out and cast their ballot in the way they want.

People died and fought for the right to be able to vote. Or not. It was not ever to be compulsory ? That is replacing one stricture with another surely?

Some countries eg Israel do make it compulsory

Arghus · 25-05-2018 3:50pm

This will never happen as those who most rely on social assistance are the least likely sector of society to vote and the political classes know this and are happy enough to let it continue because it means they don't really have to cater to the demands of those non-voters and will never face any pain from them out of the ballot boxes.

seamus · 25-05-2018 4:03pm

I love how people always seem to have really strong feelings about voting that just so happen to coincide with a voting day.

Hammer89 · 25-05-2018 4:03pm

I didn't vote. In fact I've never voted for anything since being eligible to do so. I don't know anything about politics. Would you believe me if I said I didn't even know what Yes and No means in regards to this referendum? Would the yes vote mean that I want abortion to be legalised? I'm not being stupid for the sake of being stupid; I'm just trying to highlight the extent of my apathy toward anything political.

Don't get me wrong, it's a completely ignorant attitude on my behalf, but at least I admit it. Believe me, consciously not voting is better than unconsciously voting, and walking in there like a zombie. Do you think half of the Millenials, my generation, who voted today care about the outcome? Some obviously do, but some couldn't care less, and yet they voted anyway. It's Friday, it's sunny, so my guess is they care more about a Bulmers in the beer garden this evening more than the result. These are people who vote for Fianna Fail just because their mothers and fathers do, and their mothers and fathers did. They won't admit it of course, but ask them to give a breakdown on why they vote FF and they'll sweat, stutter and construct an opinion on the spot - not an informed opinion, and that's the problem because a lot of my generation vote out of pressure to do so, not because they give a good f*ck about what they're voting for.

The right to vote might be a privilege, but there's a hundred privileges which Irish people take for granted - it's 22 degrees in Dublin, 5pm, and some of us are on Boards.ie for f*ck sake - every single day, so I don't know why non-voters should be made to feel more guilty than those who have never gone to a Gaelic match or climbed Carrauntoohil.