Should Voting be mandatory?

Gazzmonkey

Water John wrote: »

Not to derail but are the Australians right, vote or be fined. Funny nearly a quarter answered a survey on The Journal this morning saying they won't vote today. But they had time and were so inclined, to do an online poll.

Last time I voted they ignored the outcome and ran it again until they were happy with the outcome.

I'll abstain thanks

Gazzmonkey

Gazzmonkey wrote: »

Last time I voted they ignored the outcome and ran it again until they were happy with the outcome.

I'll abstain thanks

What?

When did that happen??

MartyMcFly84

The Nice Treaty I imagine is being referred to

MartyMcFly84

The point being that if it is important to you, then you would make the effort. It takes 10 minutes to vote, and hour if you are generous with travel times. 1 hour every two/three years? Yet people will travel to games, to the pub, to town, to shopping centres etc.

Its takes YOU 10mins to Vote it takes me 2.30 hours. As I have said the electorate is changing. Young people have grown up with technology and will embrace changes to the voting process that will make it easy for them.

The world is changing and the manual ballot box will be a thing of the past. If not we will be faced with smaller and smaller voter turn outs unless for a major change like the repeal movement.

Leroy42

It takes you 1 hour and ten minutes to get to your local polling station?

Have you thought about a postal vote?

listermint

It should be mandatory, why

Because it would absolutely piss off the ultra right and ultra left because they would lose out .


Bigly

MartyMcFly84

It takes you 1 hour and ten minutes to get to your local polling station?

Have you thought about a postal vote?

I havent gone through the extra admin, going to a garda station to make a declaration of identify. Then applying for postal vote registration, printing and posting it away. Which may be refused as I don't have a disability just work far away from where I am registered to vote. If I am accepted then I would have to then wait to receive my voting ballot and then go and post it.

It sounds like an easy process, but it a bit of a pain in the arse. So to answer your question I have thought about it but havent found the free time in the run up to an election to do the above.

cryptocurrency

listermint wrote: »

It should be mandatory, why

Because it would absolutely piss off the ultra right and ultra left because they would lose out .


Bigly

Bit of both and also pi$$ off the middle. Populist issues would win the day with no stopping it. Brexit party in the UK case in point.

Wanderer78

I think there's something a little weird about mandatory voting, people should have the right not to be bothered

MartyMcFly84

I think there's something a little weird about mandatory voting, people should have the right not to be bothered

Has a twinge of totalitarianism about it alright. The Government forcing people into an action to make a free choice is contradictory at best.

cryptocurrency

MartyMcFly84 wrote: »

Has a twinge of totalitarianism about it alright. The Government forcing people into an action to make a free choice is contradictory at best.

So is taxation or anthing forced.

Wanderer78

cryptocurrency wrote:

So is taxation or anthing forced.

Show me a country that functions well without taxation

MartyMcFly84

So is taxation or anthing forced

Indeed, however taxes are paying for use of the services in the country we live in.

The choice of a representatives and leaders who are agents of the public to govern and manage those funds is a personal choice and any every citizen should have to right to do whatever they want with their vote.

cryptocurrency

Wanderer78 wrote: »

Show me a country that functions well without taxation

Taxation should be based on consumption only. And using that model meny tax havens work fine.

Taxing Income is nuts.

Donald Trump

MartyMcFly84 wrote: »

I havent gone through the extra admin, going to a garda station to make a declaration of identify. Then applying for postal vote registration, printing and posting it away. Which may be refused as I don't have a disability just work far away from where I am registered to vote. If I am accepted then I would have to then wait to receive my voting ballot and then go and post it.

It sounds like an easy process, but it a bit of a pain in the arse. So to answer your question I have thought about it but havent found the free time in the run up to an election to do the above.

So do you then live far from where you vote? Can you not register properly where you actually live. Like I'd imagine you are supposed to!





What's to stop that happening wholesale if there was remote app voting? You could have "citizens" who never set foot out of Boston whose great grandfather was born in Ireland and register themselves at their cousins address in ballygobackward and vote from Boston on their little app. How are you going to stop that?

Leroy42

Leroy42 wrote: »

It takes you 1 hour and ten minutes to get to your local polling station?

Have you thought about a postal vote?

Or they are living in a new area but want to go "home" to vote

Are yoy registered where you live Marty?

AndrewJRenko

MartyMcFly84 wrote: »

I havent gone through the extra admin, going to a garda station to make a declaration of identify. Then applying for postal vote registration, printing and posting it away. Which may be refused as I don't have a disability just work far away from where I am registered to vote. If I am accepted then I would have to then wait to receive my voting ballot and then go and post it.

It sounds like an easy process, but it a bit of a pain in the arse. So to answer your question I have thought about it but havent found the free time in the run up to an election to do the above.

If you're registered at your home address, you will be near the voting station at some stage during the 15 hour opening hours.

How can it possibly take you 2+ hours to get to your local polling station for 10 minutes?

MartyMcFly84

If you're registered at your home address, you will be near the voting station at some stage during the 15 hour opening hours.

How can it possibly take you 2+ hours to get to your local polling station for 10 minutes?

I am registered in Waterford. I work in Dublin, I leave the house between 5.30am or 7am depending on the day and am back home at 11pm .Popping around the corner for 10mins is not an option for me.

If the polling station was open on a weekend it would be much easier, or if there was an electronic method of voting.

Wanderer78

cryptocurrency wrote: »

Taxation should be based on consumption only. And using that model meny tax havens work fine.

Taxing Income is nuts.

would hardly lead to an increase in consumption?

is it really?

listermint

cryptocurrency wrote: »

Bit of both and also pi$$ off the middle. Populist issues would win the day with no stopping it. Brexit party in the UK case in point.

Any real examples of populism winning out with majority voting and by majority let's say 80% plus being fair.

MartyMcFly84

MartyMcFly84 wrote: »

I am registered in Waterford. I work in Dublin, I leave the house between 5.30am or 7am depending on the day and am back home at 11pm .Popping around the corner for 10mins is not an option for me.

If the polling station was open on a weekend it would be much easier, or if there was an electronic method of voting.

So because you have a massively insane commute yiu want weekend polling OR insecure methods?

What about those if us working (living) in Dublin but returning home at weekends?

MartyMcFly84

So because you have a massively insane commute yiu want weekend polling OR insecure methods?

What about those if us working (living) in Dublin but returning home at weekends?

You have not idea if an electronic voting solution will be insecure. You are just presuming it without it would be without exploring options.

I would say the majority of people would have more free time over a weekend than during a work day to vote.

What is your suggestion to increase voter turn out, or to facilitate those of use who commute or have moved away from where we are register to vote ?

AndrewJRenko

MartyMcFly84 wrote: »

I am registered in Waterford. I work in Dublin, I leave the house between 5.30am or 7am depending on the day and am back home at 11pm .Popping around the corner for 10mins is not an option for me.

If the polling station was open on a weekend it would be much easier, or if there was an electronic method of voting.

Be outside the polling station at 7am and you'll be on the road in five or ten minutes - the same kind of delay that you'll experience all the time due to bad weather or bad traffic.



Seriously, go read up on the issues around eVoting before you throw away our democracy for a little convenience.

AndrewJRenko

MartyMcFly84 wrote: »

What is your suggestion to increase voter turn out, or to facilitate those of use who commute or have moved away from where we are register to vote ?

The problem isn't the ten minutes of voting every five years. The problem is what politicians do (and what other players in the system do) in the five years in between. There are much, much deeper issues to be addressed, not fiddling around with apps to save a few minutes and risk our democracy.

MartyMcFly84

Seriously, go read up on the issues around eVoting before you throw away our democracy for a little convenience

Are you forgetting the long history manual electoral fraud?

There will never be a perfect method. But I am willing to bet technology will be improving. However sticking to a system that is obviously not working is no solution at all , rather sticking heads in the sand.

Tell me how

MartyMcFly84 wrote: »

Are you forgetting the long history manual electoral fraud?

There will never be a perfect method. But I am willing to bet technology will be improving. However sticking to a system that is obviously not working is no solution at all , rather sticking heads in the sand.

Have I missed the evidence of this?

AndrewJRenko

MartyMcFly84 wrote: »

Are you forgetting the long history manual electoral fraud?

There will never be a perfect method. But I am willing to bet technology will be improving. However sticking to a system that is obviously not working is no solution at all , rather sticking heads in the sand.

What electoral fraud have we had in Ireland? What is not working about the current system?



Your 'sticking heads in the sand' reminds me of Bertie's 'oul peann luidhe' speech in the Dail. It cost us €60m.

MartyMcFly84

MartyMcFly84 wrote: »

You have not idea if an electronic voting solution will be insecure. You are just presuming it without it would be without exploring options.

I would say the majority of people would have more free time over a weekend than during a work day to vote.

What is your suggestion to increase voter turn out, or to facilitate those of use who commute or have moved away from where we are register to vote ?

I work in IT, I can see several ways through social engineering alone.

McGiver

Deleted User wrote:

So because you have a massively insane commute yiu want weekend polling OR insecure methods?

Weekend polling is common in continental Europe. Should be done in Ireland too. The best system is Friday (until late 10pm) + Saturday (until 12pm). No one can excuse they can't make it then.

Leroy42

Of course they can. The real issue is not the time involved, they don't care enough.

What should worry everyone is why they don't care.

What should worry non voters is that nobody cares about them either.