I recall hearing some political scientist tell me once that it doesn’t matter whether you have mandatory voting or not. The outcome is the same. I don’t know how they determined that, but it makes sense to me.
I think mandatroy voting is a waste of time. In my state, we have elected judges. There are, sometimes, hundreds of candadates running, and no one knows who anyone is. So we choose based on name, or gender or something. Great system! (that was sarcasm).
Still, while we are trying to change to a system where judges are appointed instead of elected, there are folks who are against it, because they think that the appointments will be made by white men in the state capital, and leave women and minorities off the benches of the state.
Personally, I’d rather not have to vote for judges. I know nothing about them, and it is really difficult to find out about them. My knowledge extends to state reps and local council reps. Beyond that, it’s too much.
I understand that for many people in this country, even the Presidential election is too much. Should they be forced to vote, when they think it doesn’t matter, and there’s no difference between the candidates? Should they be forced to vote when they know nothing about the candidates’ positions? Should they be forced to vote when they have better things to do?
I think it would be counterproductive. It wouldn’t change anything. It would also be an administrative nightmare. The only way to make voting work, is for the candates to excite the electorate, and get them out to vote. That’s what the candidates are trying to do, and there are signs that a lot of people who never voted before will be voting in this election, because of that excitement.