- Joined
- Sep 3, 2011
- Messages
- 34,817
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- 18,576
- Location
- Look to your right... I'm that guy.
- Gender
- Undisclosed
- Political Leaning
- Centrist
Is not voting... aka "low voter turnout"... a bad thing?
To hear so many people tell it, you'd think it is. Some have even used words like "disgrace" to describe American low percentages of participation.
Maybe I'm in the minority, but I simply don't see it that way.
Some countries mandate voting. There seems to be an increasing sentiment in this country to do the same, to mandate voting. One of the claims is that people would be more inclined to research if they knew that had to. I don't buy that. I would be vehemently against that, for two reasons...
1) I don't want the results skewed by people who don't care enough to research, or at least pay attention.
2) The freedom to not do something is just as important, if not more so, than the freedom to have the ability to do something.
IMHO, #2 stands quite well on it's own. And I detest "get out the vote" campaigns due to #1.
What say you?
To hear so many people tell it, you'd think it is. Some have even used words like "disgrace" to describe American low percentages of participation.
Maybe I'm in the minority, but I simply don't see it that way.
Some countries mandate voting. There seems to be an increasing sentiment in this country to do the same, to mandate voting. One of the claims is that people would be more inclined to research if they knew that had to. I don't buy that. I would be vehemently against that, for two reasons...
1) I don't want the results skewed by people who don't care enough to research, or at least pay attention.
2) The freedom to not do something is just as important, if not more so, than the freedom to have the ability to do something.
IMHO, #2 stands quite well on it's own. And I detest "get out the vote" campaigns due to #1.
What say you?