While giving a speech on the economy in Cleveland, Ohio yesterday, President Obama floated the idea of mandatory voting in the U.S. to both increase voter turnout (duh! mandating something does that), but also for what he says would reduce the influence of big money in politics.
From CNN:
“Other countries have mandatory voting,” Obama said Wednesday in Cleveland, where he spoke about the importance of middle class economics.
“It would be transformative if everybody voted — that would counteract money more than anything.”
How? Why would there be fewer ads just because everybody has to vote? President Obama went on to claim that it’s voter suppression that’s keeping people from voting:
“The people who tend not to vote are young, they’re lower income, they’re skewed more heavily toward immigrant groups and minorities,” Obama said. “There’s a reason why some folks try to keep them away from the polls.”
Nonsense. People aren’t voting because they can’t. People don’t vote because they don’t care. From Pew in 2006:
The survey also finds large differences between Americans who are not registered to vote or vote only rarely, and intermittent or regular voters. The two groups at the bottom of the voting participation scale are much less likely than regular or intermittent voters to believe that voting will make much of a difference. They also are less likely to agree with the statement: “I feel guilty when I don’t get a chance to vote.”
But, don’t worry. President Obama’s plan will make you care:
@jaketapper He wants mandatory everything else, why not. smh
— Matt Dawson (@SaintRPh) March 19, 2015
@jaketapper Obama needs to just say what he thinks SHOULDN'T be mandatory
— JD (@CheesyZingers) March 19, 2015
https://twitter.com/RobProvince/status/578519428687667200
Well, not yet.
@jaketapper And I'm guessing he'll issue this by executive order
— Matt Dawson (@SaintRPh) March 19, 2015
Of course!
https://twitter.com/carrie_trask/status/578519660230025216
Apparently not.
So, President Mandate — what would be the penalty for not voting, heh?
@jaketapper Mandatory means there's a penalty. Any word on what's being suggested so far? Another great debate for the US of A.
— Kim ✖️ (@SoCalPalKim) March 19, 2015
https://twitter.com/MN_Love/status/578520614857670656
@RobProvince "hello officer, yes, I suspect my neighbor failed to vote"
— David Edward ? (@_David_Edward) March 19, 2015
Or the NSA can track if you’ve voted or not…
***
Update:
‘Isn’t that racist?’ Hey, Obama, if you want mandatory voting, won’t you need this?
***
Related:
Everything Obama and MSM are telling you about election turnout is wrong
What? President blames low Democrat voter turnout on ‘congenital disease’
Join the conversation as a VIP Member