How about, and work with me on this: 1. Every citizen over 18 y.o. is automatically registered to vote. 2. DItch 1st past the post elections and instead have some form of ranked choice voting. I know, so radical, but that’s my solution.
I like the idea on the surface, but no, I don’t want to be forced to vote for a few reasons:
- A lack of voter engagement is it’s own outcome of a vote.
- Freedom of speech means being able to refuse to speak, and voting is one of the most powerful forms of speech most people have.
- I’m not a fan of the government forcing me to do something I might not believe in.
- There are many people who don’t want to vote for trump but refuse to vote for Democrat and if forced might hold their nose and vote trump.
Making election day a Federal holiday and guaranteeing everyone has the option to vote would be more effective and have a better outcome.
Edit: Several replies are basically saying the same thing: you can turn in an empty ballot. But the exact same thing can be accomplished much easier by staying at home. You can’t force people to go somewhere, or even mail in a ballot… they have a hard enough time getting people to do the census. Also, a candidate such as trump would refuse the results of any election they lost that didn’t have 100% turnout, especially if the margin of loss is less than the percentage that didn’t vote.
Again, I do like the spirit of the idea, but in order to make it work it would take more effort than it is worth since staying home accomplishes the same thing as a blank ballot.
I wouldn’t mind a default vote option.
Like when I hand in a ballot, my vote is exactly as I submit, to include abstentions.
But if I don’t turn in a ballot for any election I’m eligible to vote in, my vote just defaults to a solid down-ballot of the party I’m registered as, or following a custom party ranking to auto-fill ranked choice ballots.
Nah optional is good but at least make it a holiday so everyone has the option to vote. Many don’t because they’re working all day and the nearest voting center is two hours away because Republicans closed down as many voting centers as they possibly could and waiting in line to vote takes hours.
Honestly, they’re real shit people constantly trying to stop people from voting. Republicans hate it when people vote.
