What do you mean “cling to the idea they can’t be reached?” A huge portion of political spending goes towards trying to increase turnout (of the people likely to vote for you).
Could make it mandatory like Australia.
Of course, many in the political space are trying to limit voting, so…
Americans would cry about mandatory voting. World’s biggest snowflakes, I’m sure if that was proposed they’d just say "ugh but the constitution, freedom and stuff, stupid libs "
I don’t think it will ever even happen because the winning party may just always think, “Good, don’t vote; that allowed us to win more easily.”
I’m being put in a difficult situation here because I’m gonna have to go ahead and defend the American “snowflakes.” When it comes to interpreting the phrase “free elections” I think all democracies or close enough to that (which therefore includes the US) chose to say free means you’re also free not to participate. Except for the Aussies. And while I’m not an American snowflake, I’m still a snowflake because I agree with that interpretation. It wouldn’t just ruffle feathers in the US if mandatory election participation was prescribed. You can lead a horse to water but you cannot make it drink. Horse = voter, drink = vote. And I don’t think the Aussie governments of the last two decades have proven to be superior because they’re backed by a larger voter base. Remember the guy who ate raw onions?
You don’t actually have to fill out the ballot. You can tell the voting officer that you decline it, you can write profanity on it, or you can vote for your dog.
It’s a minor civic duty. Much less onerous than jury duty, lol
And you should be free to do that by not having to interact with someone
your options are shite and I refuse them all is a valid vote, why make it harder for someone to choose that than necessary?
why make it harder for someone to choose that than necessary?
Ironically, that’s THE main reason for people not voting.
I never miss a chance to vote and I don’t advocate for others not to vote, but I understand how some people would balk at overcoming a shitload of hurdles (including but not limited to several hours in lines surrounded by too many people, difficulties getting a valid ID etc) in order to vote for the lesser evil, which is still an evil.
If you make it easier to vote, including without having to have onerous interactions with people, mandatory voting isn’t such a hassle and neither is voluntary voting.
Agreed. Even though I think voting is the right thing to do, forcing people to vote is an infringement on their freedom and I don’t think it’s justified.
When I think of the cost of that freedom it doesn’t seem too steep.
People want all the benefits but none of the responsibility, IMO.
I definitely see your viewpoint though.
In the before times when we still had the rule of law, mandatory voting would almost certainly require an amendment to the constitution or else the Supreme Court would block it. Under current precedents the government generally can’t compel political speech.
Personally I think mandatory voting is a bad idea. It will not make then suddenly care, they will just vote for lolrolfcopter party.
The US does a lot of bad things around voting, but it being on a workday is probably the biggest hurdle. Most other countries have it on a weekend or holiday. That means that most people can go vote and not have to chose between potentially getting fired and vote. Which, to no surprise mostly affects lower income voters.
Also combined with the witch hunt on mail in voting makes it very hard for lower income people to vote. Which is by design.
Because that would require a lot of work, and 99.99% of politicians are in it for the power and money. Not to actually help their constituents.
I guess that’s fair and they know they’re never going to be able to make good on the promises they make so those voters will only become entrenched and disaffected.
I have sympathy for non-voters in the US. Not so much out of principle but because of how it is done. Voting takes place on a Tuesday. That’s because in ye olden days you had to allow people to attend church on Sunday before making the trip on horseback to participate in the election. That’s a cute tradition but clashes with the way the economy works today. People are very dependent on their low-wage jobs that they can be fired from easily. If you’re working two of those jobs to make ends meet, you may not have the “luxury” to skip work to go and vote on a normal weekday. That luxury often includes having to fill in a booklet of stuff that’s on the ballot. You’re not just voting on a president, a senator, or a congressperson. You may be asked your option on a plebiscite, a judge, a sheriff, a school board, etc. It is overinflated in my view and explains long slow moving lines at ballot stations that you don’t often see elsewhere. And that’s after a possibly Kafkaesque registration process to be eligible in the first place or to get mail-ins in some states. It is almost designed to keep people away. Maybe you’re taking these structural problems as something “politicians cling to.”
Make election day a public holiday that forces businesses who are open anyway to allow all their employees to go and vote.
A lot of those low-wage workers don’t get federal holidays off. Ever go to a liquor store on Independence Day? Or a restaurant on Veterans Day? Or fill up your gas tank on Washington’s Birthday?
A better system is universal early and mail-in voting with as few impediments as possible. If you need to require identification, that ID needs to be free. There should be no monetary barriers to voting.
I don’t mind your suggestion. I think universal mail-ins are a good idea. At the same time, I have an inkling that you didn’t read my comment all the way to the end.
For BeefPiano@lemmy.world ; I think the key words are “that force businesses who are open anyway”
Perhaps it shouldn’t be a public holiday but some other law that forces (half) a day off on that day.
Because one party doesn’t want them to vote and voter supression campaigns have become extremely powerful. And it goes beyond the beurocratic tactics like voter IDs. Apathy, cynicism, and distrust are also part of the right-wing propaganda. Opposition parties fight an uphill battle to engage more voters.
/thread
There is actually some evidence that musk was unfortunately successful at reaching some of these people. There was a lot of talk about “strange” ballots that only voted for Trump and nothing else, usually called “bullet ballots.” Well apparently part of musks outreach plan was getting to low propensity voters and telling them “don’t worry if it’s confusing, don’t worry about knowing the candidates, the only thing we need is a vote for Trump and he’ll fix everything.”
It seems like it worked out for them… :(
Because that group likely thinks both options are terrible and think it’s a pointless waste of time
Ultimately proven correct
Self fulfilling prophecy.
Because every time is someone’s first time, and due to voter registration being necessary a zillion years before the actual vote, no one specifies that and runs "VOTE ON NOV NTH " ads a week before the election day.
Being as they don’t vote, they are technically not voters.
As others have said, this seems like an ill-formed question. Do you have reason to believe that politicians “cling to the idea that these voters can’t be reached”?
less people voting helps conservatives, thats why they use disenfranchisement, voter suppression and gerrymandering in the states, plus the all the propaganda “your vote doesnt matter” is drilled into peoples heads.
voter suppression is designed to discourage voting as well.
They need to just put voting in with taxes. Everyone files taxes and if they aren’t at least filing them, then they shouldn’t vote. Setting up in person poling is expensive and takes a ton of volunteering and is so rushed to count it costs more to administer securely. The IRS is already solid at record keeping and the infrastructure for data collection is there. Plus, it would kill the horse race aspect of things if the votes were all tallied as they go. I think it would make the whole system easier and would help with any voter verification issues. No one is filing taxes in duplicate to vote more than once. Lol
But voting should be secret and confidential. Plus, how do you ensure someone isn’t voting on someone else’s behalf?
If you make less than $11,600 in 2024 you don’t file taxes because there’s no federal tax on that. So yeah, take away peoples voting rights because they’re poor. Great fucking idea, so progressive.
I thought you still had to file regardless, even if you aren’t paying anything. I filed when I was in college made under that limit working part time. Got money refunded from my taxes paid because I was below the poverty line.
If you worked a job that withheld taxes but you still didn’t make the minimum then you would absolutely want to still file because you would get 100% of that back and have the original amount your employer would have paid you. They can only refund you if you already gave them money.
If you’re self employed/gig work/contactor and don’t make more than the minimum you don’t need to file because you don’t have to pay tax. Assuming you didn’t have any other liability such as capital gains or sales taxes.
I’ll tell you why I didn’t used to vote. I worked too many hours and was emotionally exhausted all of the time. I didn’t have hobbies or interests or energy to do anything else. My personal life was a complete mess. I didn’t have friends or relationships either. I ate poorly and didn’t exercise. All I literally did was work. I suspect a lot of people were in my shoes.
The bullshit requirement for the vote to be on a Tuesday.
Vote should be on a weekend.
My state allows for mail in voting. My problem was that I was always stuck in survival mode. I couldn’t take care of my basic needs, there was no room for civic duties. It’s like I was in a trance. The problem is having to work too many hours, plus commute.
Trump: Yeah, we need more proof, come in to vote, bring two live references with an additional reference to vouge for them, all with passports, birth certificates and I need the number of the closest living relative to the doctor that delivered you.
and no lamination!
