[kg]

If we really want to increase turnout, we can just make voting mandatory like other countries have.

Requiring ID is a problem given that a lot of people don't have easy access (or access at all) to legal ID, for various reasons, some as simple as cost. Having a license costs money on an ongoing basis and you need to have access to documents to prove your identity like a birth certificate, and some citizens don't have those through no fault of their own, like losing everything in a fire or even the relevant records agency itself burning down. Thankfully there are often fee waivers for hardship but there are certainly corner cases where saying 'if you want to vote you need ID' is basically a poll tax, something we rightfully banned in the US a long time ago.

[platevoltage]

I used to think voting should be mandatory. Now I think that mandatory voting would just exacerbate the name-recognition issue. I have no issue with uninformed people not voting. I have a huge issue with uninformed voters voting.

We also have an entire party who thrives on reduced turnout, and they basically control everything right now.

[FridayoLeary]

I feel that forcing people to vote is more authoritarian than democratic. Places like North Korea have something like 99.5% turnouts for elections. One of the advantages of living in a democratic society is the freedom to choose not to participate in it, so long as this doesn't affect others.

The idea just rubs me the wrong way.

I understand America is somewhat unusual among most Western nations that lots of people don't have passports. A driving license should serve as a good ID card but lots of people don't have one of those either. As a Brit the idea of an ID card also feels undemocratic to me. In the UK we have inexpensive passports and a national voter registration database, with signatures and adresses recorded, why would that not work in the US?

[nobody9999]

>As a Brit the idea of an ID card also feels undemocratic to me. In the UK we have inexpensive passports and a national voter registration database, with signatures and adresses recorded, why would that not work in the US?

In the US, we also have county (and state) voter registration databases with signatures and addresses recorded. And they do work in the US. The only real difference is that those practices are determined at the county and state levels and not at the national level. That's not a bug. In fact, it's required by our Constitution.

That some places abuse that really sucks. For me at least, that doesn't happen where I live.

[platevoltage]

I think in any compulsary voting system, you should be allowed to select "none of the above". That would be fine with me.

I fear that uninformed people will just fill in the bubbles though, and then you start getting votes based on name recognition only, and thats already a big enough issue.

[temp0826]

Enforced compulsory voting and ranked-choice voting (along with term limits and ending citizens united) would be pretty great.

[platevoltage]

Ranked Choice - absolutely. I would be much more enthusiastic about voting if I wasn't forced to vote for the empty garbage dumpster in order to keep the garbage dumpster full of baby diapers thats been set on fire from winning.

I really think people are too uninformed for compulsory voting. I envy these people. It would be nice not to care. I don't need them looking at a list of candidates and being like "Oh I remember that guy, he made a cameo in Home Alone 2, check"

[mrangle]

Compulsory voting is what regimes do when their government is so obviously corrupt that a strong voter turnout is the only thing left that lends an air of democracy. Most often suggested if flagging voter turnout might be seen as a possible public indictment of the system's democratic legitimacy. Now we can't have that sort of protest. The People will be enthusiastic! lol.

[jeltz]

The solution is obvious: make ID free and as hassle-free as possible to get.

[platevoltage]

That would essentially make the Voter ID fight a non-issue. I'd be fine with it, but I'm not naive enough to believe that election integrity is the motivation here, because it's not.

It's about keeping the undesirables out of the voting booth.

[mrangle]

ID isn't a poll tax because it isn't a poll tax. Voter ID requirements are no more discriminatory than they are for air travel.

[triceratops]

TSA will let you fly without ID. They have the right to deny you if they can't verify your identity through alternative means, and I'm sure they'll give you plenty of grief. But it does happen.

https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/identification...

[platevoltage]

Air Travel isn't a constitutionally protected right. Try again.

[baggy_trough]

You have to have an ID to work. If we need to get non-workers ID in order to have secure elections, that is money well spent.

[platevoltage]

That has to happen before we can even talk about Voter ID requirements. I've NEVER seen a Republican mention this as an idea.