why mandatory voting is unconstitutional

I could provide other examples of countries who imposed fines on those that did not vote, but ultimately reversed their mandate. - Hans von Spakovsky is a senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation. Voting is the most written about constitutional right. ... will be tamped down so as not to seem quite so alarming — or mandatory. It will not bring more voters to vote for him or any other candidate. The concept that voters don’t like or agree with their views of an all-powerful government that tells us what to do from birth to death just can’t be true in their eyes. Get ready non-voters! Voting is not an intrinsic obligation and the enforcement of such a law would be an infringement of the citizen’s freedom associated with democratic elections. The BET held a special meeting via Zoom on Tuesday afternoon with just one item on the agenda: to reconsider FY 21 approved budget before it gets sent on to the RTM for approval. TURNER: The Solutions are Unity, Teamwork and Honesty, Not New Taxes. Fassuliotis: Mandatory Voting Is Unconstitutional By: greenwichfreepress | January 28, 2021. Their choice not to vote is a political message unto itself – and to force them to speak differently by forcing them to vote is simply prohibited by our Constitution and is contrary to what this nation was founded on. 2. Listed at: $1,800,000 Amber Herrle and E.J. It would not guarantee increased awareness or education of the issues, and it could make politicians and parties lazier. The choice to not vote speaks of more freedom than the requirement to vote or pay a fine. The First Amendment protects not just the right to speak, but the right to refrain from speaking. Mr. Haskell may point to foreign governments, such as Australia, which has passed laws making it mandatory to vote. The 18th Amendment, ratified in 1919, prohibited the sale of alcohol until the 21st Amendment repealed it in 1933. And if you are reading this, please make sure you contact your legislator in the House and Senate in Hartford to tell them that this bill should not be allowed to become law in Connecticut. Senator Will Haskell (District 26) has introduced a bill in the State Senate that would penalize you with a fine if you do not vote in an election. Many of African descent were barred from voting because they could not afford to pay the tax. But in the United States, such a requirement would violate the basic constitutional right enjoyed by us all – the right to be left alone by the government. And contrary to what Mr. Haskell and his like-minded legislators believes, forcing non-voters into the voting booth will not transform American into the progressive “utopia” that he and those that think like him believe to be true. If the president and the federal government were trying to force people to exercise other rights protected by the First Amendment, liberals would be up in arms about it. Election Law Reform Initiative and Senior Legal Fellow. As states across the country prepare to deal with monumental increases in mail-in voting ballots this election season, the Trump Administration has been ramping up its efforts to dismantle the capabilities of the U.S. I am the first to agree that, regardless of party or non-party affiliation, we should all be encouraging people to vote. Governor O P Kohli gave assent to the Gujarat Local Authorities Laws (Amendment) Bill 2009 in … This mandatory voting idea appeals to progressives such as Barack Obama because they just don’t understand it when voters reject them, as voters did in the mid-term congressional elections in 2014 and 2010. Thus, it would seem our Founders would not approve of such over-reach of government and, it is my opinion, they would deem such action unconstitutional. Others have argued that compulsory voting improves the caliber of the person elected to the office since the election is not determined by voter turnout but by swing votes. Indeed, research has shown that the vast majority of those who do not vote are simply either not interested in the candidates, do not identify with the issues of the election or they are simply not interested in the political process. These are wealthier individuals, successful corporations, taxpayers and job creators who contribute so much to our state’s economy. As my co-author John Fund points out, the former Italian foreign minister Antonio Martino, said that “there was finally a consensus that it was a basic infringement of freedom.”. Arguments Used Against Compulsory Voting Some suggest that it is undemocratic to force people to vote and is an infringement of liberty. Aside from the violence inherent in the system, mandatory voting has conceptual problems. – Jon Redmond, Nicole Pate, Kevin O’Connor, Carol Zarilli and Bill Drake. "Each time taxes are raised in our state, more people move away. This site built with Project Largo from the Investigative News Network and proudly powered by WordPress. Please SUBSCRIBE! Just more evidence of how much this president disdains the liberty that the Constitution was designed to protect and that Americans take for granted as a birthright. “We decided to go ahead with our "Mardi Bra” drive despite the still uncertain and challenging times," said Lucy Langley, Co-President of The Undies Project, “We believe people are eager to continue to help, and the need is now greater than ever.". Multivariate statistical analyses have shown that compulsory voting laws raise voter turnout by seven to sixteen percentage points.10 The effects are likely to be even greater in a The first is acceptable, the second clearly is not. The First Amendment covers the right not to vote. He also said, "That's what a democracy is about. However, Dershowitz was clever. But coercing Americans to vote is not only unconstitutional, it is bad public policy. If he and they did, they would find that this bill would not stand up to constitutional scrutiny. As my former Justice Department colleague J. Christian Adams says, if the president proposed mandatory prayer, such a proposal could be subject to “laughter, ridicule and endless citation of the Free Exercise clause” of the First Amendment. 215.409.6600 Perhaps Mr. Haskell, and any other Connecticut legislator who thinks his idea is a good one, should read the Constitution of the United States. Print. The only suit like that in recent memory is the one filed in the final days of the Bush administration against the New Black Panther Party for intimidating voters and poll watchers in Philadelphia in 2008 – and the Justice Department promptly dismissed that lawsuit almost as soon as Eric Holder took over. President Obama got a lot wrong when he broached this idea at a town hall in Cleveland. ...order to address this problematic issue, many governments take the aggressive measure of compulsory voting to constitute more public involvement in politics. Mandatory voting is a violation of our civil rights, just as denying a citizen a right to vote is a violation. If anything, compulsory voting is constitutionally warranted. Hans von Spakovsky is an authority on a wide range of issues—including civil rights, civil justice, the First Amendment, immigration. I believe the United should not enact mandatory voting laws, because it would be unconstitutional; it would go against the first amendment and it would make people pay fines for not voting. Yes, voting should be mandatory. Bedrooms: 4Baths: 3 full, 1 halfTwo car garageGuest Suite/Home officeSq ft: 4,029Acres: 2.18Year Built: 1983 The vast majority of them choose not to vote because they don’t like the candidates or the campaign issues or are simply not interested in the political process. The open yet traditional floor plan is ideal for entertaining family and friends. Jan. 29, 2021 Updated: Jan. 29, 2021 9:11 p.m. ... which has passed laws making it mandatory to vote… 525 Arch Street. The special meeting was scheduled at the request of Democrats on the BET after an outcry from public school parents over cuts to the education budget. As Australia heads to the polls, some are asking whether the country's compulsory voting policy is still necessary and relevant, reports the BBC's Katie Beck in Sydney. Census Bureau surveys of non-voters also show that the president is wrong in his assessment of why people don’t vote. Their choice not to vote sends its own message to candidates and political parties about their relevance or irrelevance to the lives of those nonvoters. That’s because Mr. Haskell’s bill is unconstitutional. He claimed that immigrant groups and minorities are being kept “away from the polls.” That is completely false. Both sides of the issue have their reasons why mandatory-voting laws should or should not be passed. Is compulsory, or mandatory, voting the answer? Karen Fassuliotis. The Italians ultimately realized that such a law impinged on the right to free speech because the freedom of speech includes the right not to speak. Martino understands something that Obama apparently does not. If he and they did, they would find that this bill would not stand up to constitutional scrutiny. It says a lot about President Obama’s political and social views that he talks about imposing a requirement that even socialist-minded countries such as Italy have rescinded. LETTER: If You Voted For State Democrats, Do You Have Buyers Remorse Yet? Put simply, the First Amendment guarantees that our government cannot force folks like me and you to speak, or, in other words, to vote. Compulsory voting is not just unwise, it is unconstitutional. Prior to this Amendment being ratified, a poll tax would not allow you to vote unless you paid a tax. Mandatory voting is a violation of our civil rights, just as denying a citizen a right to vote is a violation. Senior Fellow William Galston, the Ezra K. Zilkha Chair in Governance Studies, imagines a “future in which Americans must vote, or face a … In addition, many people feel that mandatory auto insurance is unconstitutional because it promotes discrimination. Opinion: Haskell bill to make voting mandatory is unconstitutional. I remind people all that time that men and women in our military have fought wars and died so that we can exercise the freedom to vote in an election. Dionne urge the U.S. to adopt mandatory voting. Senator Will Haskell (District 26) has introduced a bill in the State Senate that would penalize you with a fine if you do not vote … Tweet. They stress that penalties for non-voting should be minimal and that religious or conscientious exemptions should be … As Martino said, “Forcing people to vote violates their freedom of speech, because the freedom to speak includes the right not to speak.” The government cannot force you to speak or to vote (or to say a prayer). The president apparently does not believe that the right to speak, which is protected under the First Amendment, includes the right not to speak. Clearly Mr. Haskell’s bill, if law, would not pass Constitutional muster. Taking time out of my day to cast a vote … 'Vaccine passport' is outrageously unconstitutional. Impeachment Follies: Why the Senate Cannot Try Trump. “The leading argument against compulsory voting is that it is not consistent with the freedom associated with democracy. In fact, his own Justice Department hasn’t filed a single lawsuit under the relevant portion of the Voting Rights Act that prohibits anyone from keeping voters away from the polls. 1) You can't make people vote. In the United States, our Constitution, through the First Amendment, guarantees that all of us have the right to speak. That is because non-voters aren’t that different than voters in their partisan outlook and because, as Sides correctly points out, many elections (such as congressional ones) “aren’t that close.”. It’s unconstitutional and it is simply bad policy. From my research there are mainly three reasons why voting should not be mandatory: 1. The vast majority of them choose not to vote because they don’t like the candidates or the campaign issues or are simply not interested in the political process.
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