Mandatory Voting?
Sharkull @ Thu Jul 07, 2005 6:11 pm
Hester Hester:
Sharkull Sharkull:
Implementation would be easy... all voters are already controlled and registered... Receipts could be handed out at polling stations. The "costs" (net loss of government income) would be a 1% income tax break for all Canadians, (whatever that works out to) less any additional income the government would get by a stimulated economy (people spending their own money on good and services...).
Not everyone is registered....
Check out Australia: if you don't register you DON'T have to vote.
Yes, but the registration system exists already, so there would be no implementation costs associated with setting something special up... Just give the pollsters the authority to issue income tax receipts (one per voter). The quote above was about the cost of an earlier idea, and not really about getting people registered, that's where the credit comes in. Potential voters who want the credit have an additional motive to get off their butts and vote. Of course, this wouldn't deal with uninformed voters or spoiled ballots, only with getting more people to the polls...
Hester @ Thu Jul 07, 2005 6:17 pm
Offering some type of reward will certainly get more people to the polls, but it wont make them want to be more informed. There will just be more "donkey votes," voters playing "Pin the tail on the donkey."
lyonhart @ Thu Jul 07, 2005 7:25 pm
I don't think offering money would be a good idea, as you would have people trying to do the multiple vote thing. Or just throwing a check any where saying where is my payment?
Sharkull @ Thu Jul 07, 2005 10:01 pm
lyonhart lyonhart:
I don't think offering money would be a good idea, as you would have people trying to do the multiple vote thing. Or just throwing a check any where saying where is my payment?
I agree completely... but if there is any sort of payment for a vote (as was originally proposed by someone else), it would be better to have a non-refundable tax credit. Multiples would be impossible unless Revenue Canada doesn't do their job of reviewing every income tax return. The best part is that it technically wouldn't be a payment, only a way of keeping a bit more of your own earned income.
But, as has been said, this wouldn't mean voters would pay more attention to government... and is not a viable solution to the problem of voter apathy.