Cumpulsory voting in Americas

Quote: Dalex64

I also don't think there is any such thing as 'too big' when it comes to managing a vote to allow 100% of the eligible voters in America to vote if they wanted to. Add precincts, add polling places, add voting machines.

Yeah, it's a nonsense to say that something like that couldn't scale. Whether it should is another matter.

Quote: Dalex64

I don't think a constitutional amendment would be required to make this a law.
.

Of course it would. We have the right to
vote in the Constitution, it's not mandatory.
You can't make a law that overides the C,
you have to do that with an amendment.
Like Prohibition. They couldn't just make
a law that drinking was legal again, they
had to make an amendment.

So how is it constitutional to make you serve on a jury, or make you serve in the military?

Quote: Dalex64

So how is it constitutional to make you serve on a jury, or make you serve in the military?

The point is, it's already in the C that voting
is a right. You have to make that go away
if you're going to make it a duty. You can't
just ignore it like it isn't there. The can make
the draft come and go because it's not in the
C.

Quote: Dalex64

So how is it constitutional to make you serve on a jury, or make you serve in the military?

Neither should have been ruled constitutional. Especially military service.

The Constitution gives Congress the power to build post offices and operate a postal service. Does this mean the only way to do so is to use slave labor for building the post offices, and drafting people for sorting and delivering letters and parcels?

Quote: Dalex64

I'm not saying it is a good idea, I'm just saying that I agree with Pacomartin in that I don't think a constitutional amendment would be required to make this a law.

Let me be clear about what I am saying. As far as I can tell, states have a lot of leeway in how they give people the right to vote. North Carolina law cuts back early voting, restricts private groups from conducting voter-registration drives, eliminates election-day voter registration, and imposes the strictest voter ID rules in the country.

So I believe that a state can pass a law requiring mandatory attendance at a voting place. I really don't think anyone can actually force you to chose a candidate.

But a nationwide compulsory voting law might be overruling a state's rights. The prohibition amendment was required because the federal government was changing a law that individual states normally make. In the case of a national law, it may be that you do require an amendment.

But, who cares if Utah or New York has compulsory voting? The Democrats only care about Florida and Ohio or some smaller collection of states if one of them doesn't go for it.

Quote: Pacomartin

So I believe that a state can pass a law requiring mandatory attendance at a voting place.

It would still be wrong to do so. Just as it would if a state mandated owning a gun, or attending religious services, or posting to Facebook.

Quote:

I really don't think anyone can actually force you to chose a candidate.

Not now.

Slippery slope is a somewhat fallacious argument. Indeed, many times what's stated is all that's intended by most people supporting a position. But as many times fringe groups may grab the chance to take things further. Sometimes they succeed, sometimes they don't.

Quote:

But, who cares if Utah or New York has compulsory voting?

I would care. Tyranny is tyranny. I care that absurd permit and licensing laws are imposed all over the place, too.

Quote: Evenbob

The point is, it's already in the C that voting
is a right. You have to make that go away
if you're going to make it a duty. You can't
just ignore it like it isn't there. The can make
the draft come and go because it's not in the
C.

Rights and responsibilities are not two mutually exclusive things.

You have a right to bear arms. In some cases, you may be mandated to carry them. Is that unconstitutional because carrying a gun is a right?

Quote: Pacomartin

Let me be clear about what I am saying. As far as I can tell, states have a lot of leeway in how they give people the right to vote. North Carolina law cuts back early voting, restricts private groups from conducting voter-registration drives, eliminates election-day voter registration, and imposes the strictest voter ID rules in the country.

So I believe that a state can pass a law requiring mandatory attendance at a voting place. I really don't think anyone can actually force you to chose a candidate.

But a nationwide compulsory voting law might be overruling a state's rights. The prohibition amendment was required because the federal government was changing a law that individual states normally make. In the case of a national law, it may be that you do require an amendment.

But, who cares if Utah or New York has compulsory voting? The Democrats only care about Florida and Ohio or some smaller collection of states if one of them doesn't go for it.

It would be easier for individual states to enact mandatory attendance at the ballot box. It would/could still be constitutionally challenged.

States rights vs federal law is almost always an issue. The feds have a work-around, though. They could not enact a national 55mph speed limit. What they did instead was only provide highway funds to states which enacted that speed limit.

Quote: Dalex64

You have a right to bear arms. In some cases, you may be mandated to carry them. Is that unconstitutional because carrying a gun is a right?

Yes, that's unconstitutional.

Carrying a gun may be mandated in some cases where a specific job requires it, like police or in the military. Forcing ordinary citizens to carry or even to own a gun is not a power of the government.