@Daojoan
I disagree with compulsory voting. Forcing those that have no idea of the candidates or platforms doesn’t help. A random vote generator does the same.
Carrots, not sticks. Why don’t we get a tax credit or free meal for voting? Why not give a second vote to someone that fully knows the issues and candidates…they’re the valuable vote.
@NMBA@Daojoan Here in Australia we have compulsory voting AND a thing called “the secret ballot” - it means that you can go to the polling station get ticked off the list and vote for no-one, spoil your ballot or write “fuck them all”.
@Daojoan And illiterate millennials who stay home/protest vote need to get out of their feelings and stop screwing the world over. They didn't pay attention or vote until 2016. Ridiculous. They are the worst ageist bigots and they know nothing. They don't listen at all. That's why things are so fucked. They either march w torches or sulk. Ineffective entitled brats.🤬
@originlbookgirl I get your frustration with millennials' political engagement. But remember, we're a diverse group with varied views. And we inherited a brutal world that was not designed to give us the same opportunities as previous generations. Broad generalizations miss out on the positive changes many are working towards. Effective change needs all generations to understand and collaborate. Let's try that.
@Daojoan What if we don't have anyone worth voting for?
Like, personally if I were to vote my minimum at the federal level would be a candidate calling for deeply slashing the military budget, closing all overseas bases, abolishing ICE & dismantling all migration restrictions (because they are inherently prejudiced and in practice racist), completely ending the War on Drugs, and establishing Medicare for All.
@Daojoan@psychoalpastor ...the lesser of two evils is still evil. Seeing how disappointing and completely detached from self-reflection and accountability for the 'legacy' we're all living now, the DNC has so arrogantly relied on being the lesser of two evils so much that it's almost impossible to distinguish them from the other side of the aisle, especially right at this moment. The very last thing I have that no dem or rep can take away is my vote - and right now neither have it. So be it.
@redwireless@psychoalpastor it might feel like that to you. But think how it feels for people like myself, who are transgender, when one side wants to ban our existence and the other side doesn't.
Saying both sides are equal is a slap in the face to marginalised people who will be targeted by the right wing.
If you think that's even - I think you need to take a hard look at your priorities.
@Daojoan@psychoalpastor ...we're currently under a 'democratic' gov after an 'almost' coup and still women lost, and keep losing, the fed rights to govern their own bodies...under the prev 'democratic' adm black/brown folks had no choice but to protest on the streets for equal rights - BLM was born under the 1st US black president! And now, both dems & reps support the continued genocide of palestinians... don't assume you're the only one suffering. Vote shaming isn't going to help either.
@Daojoan I'm also not very optimistic that compulsory voting has any chance at ever becoming law in the US, but the argument that it makes voter suppression efforts nearly impossible is pretty compelling. I could see that being the avenue where compulsory voting becomes law if reformers see it as the only way to prevent continued purges of the voter rolls by regressive state and local officials.
@SuperMoosie@alan@Daojoan
Prisoners being able to vote is a necessary and fundamental check on wannabe dictatorships that look to imprison regular people who wouldn’t vote for them. It’s also a check on racism of any kind.
Every citizen should get one vote of equal value. That’s all there is to it.
@Daojoan I like the idea of compulsory voting, but if we do it, we also have to solve the problem that Americans vote too often and on too many things. I like that most US states have ballot initiatives, but there are too many different state & local offices which mostly should be appointed positions. From a recent Atlantic article: “In any single election, American voters face much higher information costs than the citizens of almost any other democracy in the world.” https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/08/american-election-frequency-voter-turnout/675054/
@alan@Daojoan Not to mention that the use of electronic devices is forbidden, forcing you to memorize all of your choices ahead of time. Add on that proposals are often misleadingly worded, or have deliberately similar wording to proposals that would do the opposite effect.
@willbeason Well, that specific issue isn't true in all states. I live in #WashingtonState where we have universal #VoteByMail so we get 2 or 3 weeks to review our ballot and think about our choices. But we vote-by-mail states also tend to have huge numbers of initiatives & other ballot measures that require tons of research to form an opinion (looking at you, California). Oh, and vote-by-mail states usually have among the best turnout in the US, partly addressing @Daojoan's original concern.
@Daojoan i think that would be a mistake. most of the people who don't vote are also those with the poorest education. do you really want them to vote against their will? trump's election succeeded in part because of the huge vote he got (compared to his opponent) from the least educated people.
If it rains in your country one side gets more votes, because the other side doesn't bother to turn up. You all complain about the government, yet you don't turn up.
Here where it is compulsory to turn up and get your name marked off over 90% turn up each election. About 5% don't cast a valid vote ( their choice)
The whole thing is over and done in a few weeks, we don't have endless calls to donate or expensive campaign to motivate people to turn up. It about the actual issues.
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