No to compulsory voting.

We're already seen as eroding civil liberties, we don't need to make it worse.

As an alternative, let us propose compulsory NON-voting... in the countryside.

NM has this right - the state has no right to make people do something that they don't want to do (providing it isn't hurting someone else).

Sadly, governments always trend towards authoritarianism (cf ID cards, 42 days) in the end, and we'll get there in the end again - if you instituted this you would deserve to be destroyed.

RedRooster - behave yourself! :)

Compulsory voting would only result in the party being crushed massively at the polls, if not fatally, with the electorate cheered-on by the Tory press. Compulsory voting would be an authoritarian measure too far, from a Labour government still damaged by Blunkettism.

 

Votes at 16!

Provided that a 'none of the above' option is provided, how on earth does this infringe liberty? As far as I'm aware, there's no fundamental human right to sit at home on your arse...Rights come with responsibilities, voting is the most important of them all. And best of all, it would force our political system to represent the most marginalised instead of the pushy parents brigade with the big mouths and wallets. Nothing could be more conducive to improved social justice - we must introduce this, and AV, as an absolute priority.

No, no, no. You cannot criminalise people for not turning up at the ballot box (you are entirely justified in thinking that they are foolish and pointing out th error of their ways) - that is grossly authoritarian.

On the voting at 16 issue - any age is arbitrary, but I feel that on balance 18 is about right; people (in general) do quite a lot of growing up in those two years.

If you forced me to vote I not vote Labour, if you asked me to vote I'd still not vote Labour, I've been voting since 1968, never failed once to vote Labour, like my father, his father and my great grandfather all strong Labour people, my son votes Tory my daughter votes Tory, this week in school the kids had elections and yes the Tories won, which means to me anyway the new generation will not be die hard Labour voters.

But why is this, I live in an area which has massive unemployment even though Labour says rubbish, I live on a 500 house council estate, we have a community hall , the people who go to that say they cannot find work, as you know I've a disability and use a wheelchair, I cannot find work, we have this week lost another 300 jobs.

The area is run down it's poor , it just seems nobody cares. people are not voting I think in my area because if they vote Labour nothing happens, if they vote Tory nothing happens, just nothing happens, people say wait until the Tories come in, what can they do to us Labours not already done. 

On the votes for 16 issue, I'm 16, but no, no, no. People who were my age seemed all for Boris, 'cause he seemed like a 'laugh'. People need to have that extra 2 years, to be able to think about the implications of what a cross on a ballot paper are.

On the compulsory voting issue: the same reasons. Encourage those who know about politics to vote. If people don't, then you get people voting for people like Boris.

16 is a bit too young to vote IMHO. Some of them won't have even finished their GCSE's when they vote! 18 is generally accepted as the age of majority, so that's when people should vote.