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‘It will be the end of democracy’: Bernie Sanders on what happens if Trump wins – and how to stop him
(www.theguardian.com)
this post was submitted on 26 Feb 2024
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politics
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[Citation required.]
We could actually improve our democracy by making voting mandatory.
We'd get a better representation of how all of the voting-age population feels.
Then maybe we can get politicians that support more thorough voting system reform.
In Australia, we've tried that. I have to say, that I personally, am not a fan.
The consequences of forcing politically ignorant or complacent people to vote is that they end up deciding the result of the election, and you just get skilled used car salesmen as your politicians. They know all the buzzwords and three word slogans to keep the politically apathetic tuned in.
we get that now tho…
And how is that different from what we have?
you’re right, now that i think about it—as long as gerrymandering gets banned at the same time. because guess who doesn’t want most folks to vote? the R party. you know, the one that wants to rule, not govern.
Brazil has mandatory voting, and its just as rife with corruption and fascism as anywhere else. I like the idea of compulsory enfranchisment simply because it operates as a counterweight to disenfranchisement. A state with a legal duty to vote is one with a legal obligation to fully implement elections infrastructure (at least, in theory).
But when it comes to the quality of candidates? Well... Bolsonaro was not a paragon of civic virtue.
Over the decades the discussion has been had about if voting should be mandatory or not.
It always came down to it should not be, because people would just do bullshit voting if forced to do so, they wouldn't put the effort or the ethics in to vote responsibly.