4 ms·

Option B would be pretty interesting, and might provide a decent incentive for people to vote. However, if people aren't likely to vote anyway, why would they

by mbreese 16y ago

Option B would be pretty interesting, and might provide a decent incentive for people to vote. However, if people aren't likely to vote anyway, why would they care how much representation they have in Congress? We effectively do have a "none of the above" option: don't select anyone and still cast the ballot. However, it would be better if there was an explicit "No vote" option. The biggest problem with voting not being mandatory is that a lot of people don't have the opportunity because they can't get off work. If you made voting mandatory (or at least made election day a paid holiday), this impediment might be alleviated.

paradoja 16y ago
«The biggest problem with voting not being mandatory is that a lot of people don't have the opportunity because they can't get off work. If you made voting mandatory (or at least made election day a paid holiday), this impediment might be alleviated.» An alternative, as it's done in Spain, is to give everyone the right to leave their jobs in order to vote. To alleviate things for businesses, all elections happen on Sundays.
- mzl 16y ago
  Another alternative is to have advance voting. In the recent elections in Sweden about one third of the votes cast were cast in advance, IIRC.
  - philwelch 16y ago
    In Washington and Oregon (soon California) this is done by mail.
- kgermino 16y ago
  In Illinois at least employers are required to allow employees to take two paid hours off at the beginning or end of their shift to vote. Also there's "no excuse" absentee vote by mail and early voting available throughout the state.
ugh 16y ago
Why don’t you vote on Sundays like I don’t know how many other nations in the World? It doesn’t make any sense.
- mbreese 16y ago
  It's written in the Constitution as to when voting should occur. Remember, this was written for the late 18th century, so doing anything on Sundays was generally frowned upon. Plus, changing something like this would be far more difficult than just giving everyone the day off. However, in this country there is a constant struggle between trying to let more people vote versus trying to restrict voting. Hence why a lot of people are up in arms about potential voter fraud. The traditional wisdom is that more voters helps one party, fewer helps another. With this as a factor, you can see how it would be very difficult to change the day of voting to make it more convenient for people.
  - ugh 16y ago
    It’s not in the Constitution as far as I can see. Election day seems to be determined by an ordinary law.
    - mbreese 16y ago
      And this is why I'm glad that we don't have to pass a test to vote. I'd fail that question. I blame my third grade social studies teacher. :). The date is set by an act of Congress from 1845. http://memory.loc.gov/ll/llsl/005/0700/07590721.tif http://memory.loc.gov/ll/llsl/005/0700/07590721.tif I think my other arguments still stand though...
- spacemanaki 16y ago
  Because we need enough time to travel to town overnight via horse. We vote in November because the harvest is over. I believe this is correct, I've heard it several places, but here is one citation: http://www.whytuesday.org/answer/ http://www.whytuesday.org/answer/
- pierrefar 16y ago
philwelch 16y ago
Nevada has an explicit "none of the above" on the ballot.
mast 16y ago
The biggest problem with voting not being mandatory is that a lot of people don't have the opportunity because they can't get off work. If you made voting mandatory (or at least made election day a paid holiday), this impediment might be alleviated. That just sounds like a lazy excuse to me. I don't know how long it takes to vote in the US, but where I live in Canada, we just finished our municiple elections. It was one of the longest ballots I can remember, yet the entire process, including walking from my house to the polling station and back, took about 20 minutes after work. I have to say, I just don't understand this voter apathy or this sentiment that if none of the candidates are any good then don't vote. I really do think it is your duty as a citizen.
- Retric 16y ago
  I have spent 4-5 hours on more than one occasion.
  - mast 16y ago
    You're kidding. Why does it take so long?
    - randallsquared 16y ago
      I'm not mzl, but there are all kinds of reasons why it might be a long project: waiting for public transit (especially if there's more than one connection), waiting in line at the poll (if turnout is much higher than expected), etc.
    - TheAmazingIdiot 16y ago
      I've spent an hour and a half before, mainly due to excessive turnout and lack of voting booths. 2 of the 6 machines the precinct received did not verify when turned on. They're an electronic booth with paper printout (yes,what the vote hackers wanted to begin with). However the paper did not agree with the electronic tally, hence machine invalidated. And they got 4x the turnout they were expecting. Now, usually, it's 20 min in line and 3 min for the vote itself.
    - 16y ago

by mbreese 16y ago

paradoja 16y ago

«The biggest problem with voting not being mandatory is that a lot of people don't have the opportunity because they can't get off work. If you made voting mandatory (or at least made election day a paid holiday), this impediment might be alleviated.» An alternative, as it's done in Spain, is to give everyone the right to leave their jobs in order to vote. To alleviate things for businesses, all elections happen on Sundays.

mzl 16y ago
Another alternative is to have advance voting. In the recent elections in Sweden about one third of the votes cast were cast in advance, IIRC.
- philwelch 16y ago
  In Washington and Oregon (soon California) this is done by mail.
kgermino 16y ago
In Illinois at least employers are required to allow employees to take two paid hours off at the beginning or end of their shift to vote. Also there's "no excuse" absentee vote by mail and early voting available throughout the state.

ugh 16y ago

Why don’t you vote on Sundays like I don’t know how many other nations in the World? It doesn’t make any sense.

mbreese 16y ago
It's written in the Constitution as to when voting should occur. Remember, this was written for the late 18th century, so doing anything on Sundays was generally frowned upon. Plus, changing something like this would be far more difficult than just giving everyone the day off. However, in this country there is a constant struggle between trying to let more people vote versus trying to restrict voting. Hence why a lot of people are up in arms about potential voter fraud. The traditional wisdom is that more voters helps one party, fewer helps another. With this as a factor, you can see how it would be very difficult to change the day of voting to make it more convenient for people.
- ugh 16y ago
  It’s not in the Constitution as far as I can see. Election day seems to be determined by an ordinary law.
  - mbreese 16y ago
    And this is why I'm glad that we don't have to pass a test to vote. I'd fail that question. I blame my third grade social studies teacher. :). The date is set by an act of Congress from 1845. http://memory.loc.gov/ll/llsl/005/0700/07590721.tif http://memory.loc.gov/ll/llsl/005/0700/07590721.tif I think my other arguments still stand though...
spacemanaki 16y ago
Because we need enough time to travel to town overnight via horse. We vote in November because the harvest is over. I believe this is correct, I've heard it several places, but here is one citation: http://www.whytuesday.org/answer/ http://www.whytuesday.org/answer/
pierrefar 16y ago

philwelch 16y ago

Nevada has an explicit "none of the above" on the ballot.

mast 16y ago

The biggest problem with voting not being mandatory is that a lot of people don't have the opportunity because they can't get off work. If you made voting mandatory (or at least made election day a paid holiday), this impediment might be alleviated. That just sounds like a lazy excuse to me. I don't know how long it takes to vote in the US, but where I live in Canada, we just finished our municiple elections. It was one of the longest ballots I can remember, yet the entire process, including walking from my house to the polling station and back, took about 20 minutes after work. I have to say, I just don't understand this voter apathy or this sentiment that if none of the candidates are any good then don't vote. I really do think it is your duty as a citizen.

Retric 16y ago
I have spent 4-5 hours on more than one occasion.
- mast 16y ago
  You're kidding. Why does it take so long?
  - randallsquared 16y ago
    I'm not mzl, but there are all kinds of reasons why it might be a long project: waiting for public transit (especially if there's more than one connection), waiting in line at the poll (if turnout is much higher than expected), etc.
  - TheAmazingIdiot 16y ago
    I've spent an hour and a half before, mainly due to excessive turnout and lack of voting booths. 2 of the 6 machines the precinct received did not verify when turned on. They're an electronic booth with paper printout (yes,what the vote hackers wanted to begin with). However the paper did not agree with the electronic tally, hence machine invalidated. And they got 4x the turnout they were expecting. Now, usually, it's 20 min in line and 3 min for the vote itself.
  - 16y ago