and why doesn’t everybody vote? I don’t understand why it isn’t mandatory i think everyone should have to, men, women, and children. If you can read the ballot, you should be able to vote. I know my nephew wouldn’t have voted for trump and he’s 10!

  • FriendOfDeSoto
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    1 day ago

    Statistics can be interpreted differently. The following numbers are all rounded back of the envelope math: approximately 77 million people voted for Trump. About 74 million for Harris. Combined they are about 151 million and they represent about 64% of all people who could’ve cast a ballot. So 100% is about 236 million people eligible to vote. So 236m-151m=85 million didn’t bother. You could add this to either total for the candidates and say the majority didn’t vote for the opponent. Because not casting their ballot for whatever reason can also be seen as voicing an opinion. It’s a bit of statistical gymnastics if you want to make a point, albeit not a good one.

    Making the vote mandatory is a philosophical question. In Australia it is mandatory. But in most countries that have elections that deserve to be called that it is not. If you interpret freedom to mean you’re also free not to go and vote you cannot make it mandatory. I agree with you that everyone who is eligible should go and vote. But I also believe the choice should be up to the individual. So we should find ways to motivate eligible voters to make use of their (fixed typo) right. With regards to children I’m not sure it’s a great idea. If they’re very young they may just double the tally that their parents add to. In Europe, some countries lowered the age in some elections to 16, which I think is okay. But I wouldn’t go lower than that.