March 26, 2015

Obama suggests mandatory voting

Christian Science Monitor -  During a town hall meeting in Cleveland, Ohio, President Barack Obama floated the idea of making voting in America compulsory.

Mr. Obama suggested compulsory voting in the context of speaking about ways to counteract the role of money in politics.

"It would be transformative if everybody voted," Obama said.

"That would counteract money more than anything. If everybody voted, then it would completely change the political map in this country, because the people who tend not to vote are young; they're lower income; they're skewed more heavily towards immigrant groups and minority groups; and they're often the folks who are – they're scratching and climbing to get into the middle class. And they're working hard, and there’s a reason why some folks try to keep them away from the polls.  We should want to get them into the polls."

[Update: White House press secretary Josh Earnest issued this statement about mandatory voting: “The president was not making a specific policy prescription for the United States,” reported the Washington Times.]

The state with the motto “Live free or die,” where all eyes turn during the presidential primaries, would be on the front lines for implementation of any such plan. But to New Hampshire’s Deputy Secretary of State David Scanlan voting is “a right to be exercised, but not forced.”

“Personally, I don’t agree with that idea [compulsory voting] at all,” Mr. Scanlan says. “In a perfect world everyone would vote because it’s so important. I believe every state should strive to generate maximum voter turnout but stop short of forcing people to vote.”

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