To: The United States House of Representatives and The United States Senate
Make voting in the POTUS elections REQUIRED BY LAW
Many other countries require this. Tried and proven methods should be used to require every person age 18 and over to register to vote and to suffer a $1000 penalty for failing to vote in a Presidential election.
Supporters of compulsory voting generally look upon voter participation as a civic duty, similar to taxation, jury duty, compulsory education or military service; one of the "duties to community" mentioned in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. They believe that, by introducing an obligation to vote, it helps to overcome the occasional inconvenience that voting imposes on an individual in order to produce governments with more stability, legitimacy and a genuine mandate to govern, which in turn benefits that individual even if their preferred candidate or party is not elected to power. The idea that compulsory voting results in a higher degree of political legitimacy is based on it resulting in high voter turnout. The victorious candidate therefore represents a majority of the population, not just of the politically motivated individuals who would vote without compulsion.
Supporters of compulsory voting generally look upon voter participation as a civic duty, similar to taxation, jury duty, compulsory education or military service; one of the "duties to community" mentioned in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. They believe that, by introducing an obligation to vote, it helps to overcome the occasional inconvenience that voting imposes on an individual in order to produce governments with more stability, legitimacy and a genuine mandate to govern, which in turn benefits that individual even if their preferred candidate or party is not elected to power. The idea that compulsory voting results in a higher degree of political legitimacy is based on it resulting in high voter turnout. The victorious candidate therefore represents a majority of the population, not just of the politically motivated individuals who would vote without compulsion.
Why is this important?
Not enough people vote for a so-called "winner" of an election to have an actual "mandate." WHY not make voting mandatory? There's no downside to doing so -- only an UP side.