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[Sheb]

Like lack of knowledge ever stopped anyone from voting. :p More seriously, as 10ebbor10 said, it helps breed interest into politics.

[Erkki]

I still don't get why the whole world doesn't switch to mandatory voting.

Evidence of legitimacy?

I don't want people with no interest in or knowledge of politics to vote.

"The best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter."

I generally dislike old Winston but we dont disagree in everything.

[XXSockXX]

Or to argue from the other perspective, people have a right not to care.

Also it's not only the uninterested politically apathetic people that don't vote, it's also the ones that don't feel represented by any party and don't want to waste their vote on a protest party. Or the ones that don't care about certain elections.

I have thought about not voting myself quite often, since I don't feel particularly represented by any party. I'm interested enough in politics that I always vote in state/national/European elections, usually by the "lesser evil" principle, sometimes strategically, but I have skipped local elections occasionally, when I really don't care which incompetent idiot becomes mayor or something.

[vagel7]

http://www.delfi.ee/news/paevauudised/eesti/anto-veldre-sel-nadalal-alanud-jarjekordne-runnak-e-valimiste-vastu-on-poliitiline-mitte-tehniline.d?id=68671703

This is something aimed against the "independent" experts: https://www.ria.ee/e-voting-is-too-secure/

http://www.balticbusinessnews.com/article/2014/5/13/study-find-serious-security-problems-in-the-estonian-i-voting-system

http://news.err.ee/v/scitech/22936ca4-5e3e-45c1-b13b-3dfa6a5a11cd

http://www.balticbusinessnews.com/article/2014/5/19/city-of-tallinn-using-taxpayer-money-to-fight-against-e-voting

http://uudised.err.ee/v/eesti/751a3ea4-d0a2-426f-b9cb-b4f6cff82c10

There is actually a very powerful article that strongly criticises the experts, that I can not give you because the newspaper has a bad business strategy in that you must order it to read it even on the web.

[Sheb]

Well, you have every right to put in a blank ballot if you don't want to vote.

[Loud Whispers]

I can't help but notice the greens growing in strength, stepping over the maimed body of the lib dems to rise further. It seems the greens will slowly and steadily grow to surpass all until one day we wake up in fear to find our new prime minister is a wind turbine.

Seems I also missed coverage of the EU general elections here and on the news. Proper funny reactions all round.

[TD1]

I wonder what would happen with a merging of British and American politics.

I can't wait to see the Green Tea Party.

[MonkeyHead]

I wonder what would happen with a merging of British and American politics.

I can't wait to see the Green Tea Party.

UKIP+Republican bastard lovechild of doom. JESUS AND GUNS FOR ALL, BUT NO IMMIGRANTS OR HEALTHCARE!

[Ukrainian Ranger]

What I would add to democracy: vote against someone. Some kind of -1 vote

If we have some party A that is loved by 30% and hated by 50% and party B that is loved by 20% and hated by 5%. In that case, IMO, party B should have more political weight than party A

[10ebbor10]

The other advantage is that if you have mandatory voting, the government is also forced to ensure that everyone can vote. That's no evidence in some locations, especially for some groups (senior citizens with limited movement). Anyway, what you get now is that in a non-mandatory voting system, it's the extremist parties that get disproportionate representation.

I mean, just compare the results.

In Belgium, our local Eurosceptic separatist party got 20% of the vote in the Federal elections, and just 17% in the European elections. Meanwhile UKIP got 28% of the vote in the European elections, despite only getting 17% of the vote in the concurrent local elections. Yes, I know the local elections didn't occur everywhere in the country, but they're a good indicator and IIRC, UKIP really doesn't do well in Scotland.

Speaking of which, the UK should get rid of First past the Post voting as well. It's a horrible system.

What I would add to democracy: vote against someone. Some kind of -1 vote

If we have some party A that is loved by 30% and hated by 50% and party B that is loved by 20% and hated by 5%. In that case, IMO, party B should have more political weight than party A

It exists, it's called preferential voting.

[MonkeyHead]

What I would add to democracy: vote against someone. Some kind of -1 vote

If we have some party A that is loved by 30% and hated by 50% and party B that is loved by 20% and hated by 5%. In that case, IMO, party B should have more political weight than party A

Works fine until a significant number of people vote negative - then you end up with some kind of anti government with the smallest negative score.

[Loud Whispers]

I wonder what would happen with a merging of British and American politics.

I can't wait to see the Green Tea Party.

DON'T STEP ON MY WIND TURBINES
THINK OF THE WIND TURBINES
PROTECT THE RIGHT TO BEAR CONCEALED TURBINES

In all honesty, national sudoku is the only way. The trident cuts Neptune's throat as the UK nukes itself.

[Descan]

...

I think you mean seppuku.

... Though, a nation-wide game of sudoku would be... interesting.

[MonkeyHead]

...

I think you mean seppuku.

... Though, a nation-wide game of sudoku would be... interesting.

Suddenly, Asian immigrants are in demand for their superior numeracy skills. Stop UKIP today - a vote for sudoku makes sense!

[palsch]

Vagel, I'll have to look over those in a bit. Glancing at this one (only one that addresses any of the technical issues at first glance) I do have to ask if this is an official government site or some other establishment? Because if that were a British government site someone would be getting fired...

Speaking of which, the UK should get rid of First past the Post voting as well. It's a horrible system.

Don't see this happening for a long time after the referendum went down. Even getting a second bite at AV seems unlikely, let alone a more proportional system that most of the reform groups would like to go for.