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A few weeks ago I came across a Website that was set up to field suggestions for ways of balancing the budget of my state. Most of the suggestions were either from the radical right (turn all the state parks into casinos and water-parks) or the radical left (just raise taxes until all the spending is covered).

One of the comments caught my attention because it didn't really seem to address the issue. The comment simply said: "Make voting mandatory." I'm still not sure if the person who left the comment was just assuming that the penalty fee would then make up for any budgetary shortfall, but I came across the topic of compulsory voting just a few days later on an NPR broadcast.

A gentleman from the Brookings Institute suggested that we use compulsory voting in the U.S. because Australia uses it and it raises their voter turnout numbers (shocking, isn't it?). He also suggested that non-voters were moderates and voters are just angry and further to the left or right than non-voters.

Such a scenario might be true but even so, too many things were left unanswered for me if compulsory voting were to become a reality. Would we be guaranteed more than two choices? Would we get a "none-of-the-above" choice? (An Australian friend informed me that they don't get that choice there. If they want "none-of-the-above," they must write that on a piece of blank paper which they're given.)

Anyhow, I decided to have some fun with the topic and give my favorite talk-show host something with which to work.

Description
A few weeks ago I came across a Website that was set up to field suggestions for ways of balancing the budget of my state. Most of the suggestions were either from the radical right (turn all the state parks into casinos and water-parks) or the radical left (just raise taxes until all the spending is covered).

One of the comments caught my attention because it didn't really seem to address the issue. The comment simply said: "Make voting mandatory." I'm still not sure if the person who left the comment was just assuming that the penalty fee would then make up for any budgetary shortfall, but I came across the topic of compulsory voting just a few days later on an NPR broadcast.

A gentleman from the Brookings Institute suggested that we use compulsory voting in the U.S. because Australia uses it and it raises their voter turnout numbers (shocking, isn't it?). He also suggested that non-voters were moderates and voters are just angry and further to the left or right than non-voters.

Such a scenario might be true but even so, too many things were left unanswered for me if compulsory voting were to become a reality. Would we be guaranteed more than two choices? Would we get a "none-of-the-above" choice? (An Australian friend informed me that they don't get that choice there. If they want "none-of-the-above," they must write that on a piece of blank paper which they're given.)

Anyhow, I decided to have some fun with the topic and give my favorite talk-show host something with which to work.