“I think it is a ridiculous idea that violates a fundamental right that we have as Americans — the right to be leſt alone by the government.”
— Hans von Spakovsky, former member of the Federal Election Commission
Holder’s solution: Require local gov- ernments to create lists of eligible vot- ers by conducting database searches and public-record checks. Then voters could simply show up at the polls and vote, without even having to register. What Democrats don’t bother
to mention, of course, is that forc- ing voter turnout way over 50 percent would greatly favor Democrats. Man- datory voting helped Austra- lia’s Labor Party increase its share in the parliament by nearly 10 percent. And a USA Today/Suff olk University poll showed that voters who failed to register would have picked Obama over Romney at a rate of nearly 2-to-1. Forcing America’s huge
pool of 90 to 95 million non- voters to cast ballots might just create the permanent left- leaning majority that Demo- crats have long dreamed of. The impact that would
Will says voters have good reason not to bother voting, and calls low partici- pation in elections a “non-problem.” The Heritage Foundation’s Hans
von Spakovsky, a former member of the Federal Election Commission, says that requiring people to vote is downright un-American. “I think it is a ridiculous idea that violates a fundamental right that we
health of our democracy. In Australia, voters who decline to show up at the polls without a good excuse, such as an illness or a death in the family, are subject to a fi ne that amounts to a traffi c ticket. The fi ne increases in size with each off ense. Not surprisingly, about 90 percent
of Australians show up to vote at each election. If Australians don’t like any of the candidates, they are free to vote for none of the above. Von Spakovsky says people often
Vote, Get a Lottery Ticket A
n estimated 94 million Americans sat out the 2012 election, and American Enterprise Institute scholar Norman Ornstein has a unique idea to change that: Lure voters to the polls with a lottery ticket. Ornstein believes getting more Americans to vote might push the political system to the middle, thereby ending the partisan gridlock that appears to have seized up the U.S. political engine. Ornstein proposes a classic carrot- and-stick approach.
The stick is the fine for not voting. The carrot: The fines would be lumped
have on America’s already spiraling entitlement problem is an open question. But that has not stopped several Dem- ocratic thought-leaders from proposing it. Peter Orszag, President Obama’s former budget director, has written an Op-Ed calling for fi nes on citizens who don’t show up at the polls. So has William Galston, a Brookings Institu- tion scholar who served as an adviser to former President Bill Clinton. Conservatives, not surprisingly, don’t think that’s a very good idea.
into a lottery drawing, and every voter would be eligible. Each voter would receive a numbered receipt that, in
eff ect, would become a lottery ticket. So every voter would instantly be eligible to win a multimillion-dollar drawing. That means victorious candidates wouldn’t be the only big winners on election night.
have as Americans — the right to be left alone by the government,” he tells Newsmax. Activists argue that voting is an important civic obligation, like man- datory jury duty, and that a fully engaged citizenry is essential to the
don’t vote because they don’t care about the issues or the candidates. He says Americans who choose not to vote, whether due to apathy, protest, or some other factor, are still engaging in a form of expression. As such, he says, they ought not be coerced into voting. “Some people just don’t care about issues and poli- tics and that’s OK,” says von Spakovsky. “But forcing these people to go to the ballot box and have them dictate the future direction of our coun- try is just ridiculous.” American
Institute scholar Norman
Ornstein is among those who favor assessing a slight fi ne for voters who don’t show up to do their civic duty. Getting more people to the polls, he says, would reduce the par- tisan gridlock that currently grips the political process. But both sides of the aisle
agree on one thing: As long as Republicans control the House, there is scant likeli- hood that either automatic
registration or a voter mandate will become law. “The chances of this ever becom-
ing a reality here are slim to none,” Ornstein says. “Americans don’t like a mandatory anything — so it’s just not going to be an easy sell.”
MARCH 2013 | NEWSMAX 33
Enterprise
VON SPAKOVSKY/DOUGLAS GRAHAM/CQ-ROLL CALL GROUP/GETTY IMAGES / BABY/JOHN KARPINSKY/FLICKR/GETTY IMAGES
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