Saturday, April 4, 2015

Why Compulsory Voting is Not a Good Idea.

President Obama recently told a crowd in Cleveland that he would support compulsory voting in the United States.  What this means is that if this were to become law in the United States, you would cast your vote on Election Day or pay a fine...ie a tax as Chief Justice John Roberts called it.

There are many democracies around the world that already have compulsory voting.  In Australia, for example, compulsory voting increased the voter turnout from 24% to 96% plus.  There are some good arguments for it.  But it is easy to poke holes in those arguments.

Voting is a civic duty much like paying taxes, education or jury duty.  However, here in the United States, tax evasion is common.  Many drop out of school and fail to finish their compulsory education.  And we also have a good number of people who successfully skip out on jury duty.

People argue that compulsory voting would mean that Congress would more effectively govern as they would more closely represent the will of the people.  However, congressmen and congresswomen and senators still need to raise money for their campaigns, Gerrymandering is still alive and well in the United States.  And lobbyists still have unfettered access to Congress.

It is argued that governments, both state and federal, would consider the total electorate in policy formation and management.  However, many, if not most, people elected in government from the President down to your city or town council claim to already be doing the same thing with our without compulsory voting.  Add to that the ever-growing bureaucracy and policy makers and other who have a day-to-day impact on our lives but are not elected.

It is argued that candidates and campaigns with compulsory voting can focus on issues rather than encouraging voters to show up on election day.  Actually, this is one that I can't find an argument against right now, but I suspect that front runners will still be doing this even several years after compulsory voting is passed.

It is also argued that compulsory voting isn't actually compulsory because the voter isn't compelled to vote for anyone or anything.  Balloting is secret.  You can show up on Election Day, sign that you voted and then leave a completely blank ballot.

Here is why I think this is a bad idea.

First of all, I would agree that voting is a civic duty but I also believe that it is an infringement of personal liberty to force people to vote under the threat of a fine.  There are many good reasons not to vote.  Most of those whom I have talked to who admit that they do not vote have said that they do not feel that their votes make a difference in the final outcome, that there are no real difference in the actions of the major parties once elected or they are simply too busy to vote on election day.  There is nothing that compulsory voting can solve that can't be solved with candidates who have the will to do what they said they would do during their campaigns, ending gerrymandering, extending voting hours at the polls and a host of other reforms that good and encouraging.

I would argue that the ignorant and those who have little political interest would be forced to the polls and make uneducated votes and would have the unintended effect of reducing the quality of government, instead of improving it as those who are for compulsory voting would argue.  You would also see an increase in what they call in Australia, donkey votes, or people who will mark their ballots at random because they are required to vote.

Because of gerrymandering, you would likely see an increase, and not a decrease, in safe seats in Congress and an increase in money spent on the few remaining battle ground districts.  In the last election, Congress had an approval rate in the teens, yet over 80% of those running for reelection won.  There are many reasons for this, and a low turnout was part of the problem, but compulsory balloting is not going to solve it.

Finally, as a fiscal conservative, I would argue that the money spent on tracking down those who did not vote would probably be more than the money gained from the fines charged to enforce compulsory ballots.  And what are we going to do to those who don't pay the fines?  I want our prisons and jails filled with those who are dangerous, not those who commit such heinous crimes like not buying insurance or not voting.

As for political leanings, in the last election it is argued that Republicans picked up seats in Congress in 2014 because many democratic leaning voters did not vote.  This is probably why President Obama mentioned the idea in Cleveland.  He feels that if we had compulsory voting the Democrats would still be in charge in Congress.  There have been times when Republicans would feel the same way.

Yes, let's look at ways to encourage voter turnout on Election Day.  Let's look for ways to get people to want to vote without taking away their freedom to stay home.