On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court sided with the state of Ohio in allowing it to purge its voting rolls of sporadic voters.
The vote of the high court was 5-4, with conservative jurists taking the hard line.
The case was brought forward by Mr. Larry Hartman, a software engineer and Navy veteran, who skipped voting in 2010, 2012, and 2014.
In 2015, an election on whether to legalize marijuana spurred Mr. Hartman to vote. When he went to do so, his name had been removed from the voting rolls. Election officials said they had sent Mr. Hartman a notice in 2011 to confirm his voting status. When he failed to respond, his name was expunged. Mr. Hartman said he didnt remember receiving any such notice.
Writing for the dissent, Justice Stephen Breyer said Ohios system was faulty. Out of the 1.5 million notices it had mailed to registered voters in 2012, only 4 percent were returned. To put the responsibility on voters to reply whether they had moved or were still alive was unrealistic, he said.
The majority was not to be dissuaded.
GETTING PEOPLE to register to vote in the United States is an unfortunate problem. In the 2016 general election, only 55.7 percent of eligible voters participated. Of those registered to vote, about 86 percent participated, a relatively healthy showing.
These facts alone would seem to argue that it is counterintuitive to the democratic process to make voting more difficult. If someone registers to vote, what does it matter how many times they participate?
Australia has tackled the problem by making not only registering to vote, but also the participatory act, compulsory.
Since 1924, Australians must participate in every local, state or national election or face a fine.
In the 2016 election, 87 percent of the electorate participated. More than 96 percent of Australians 18 and older are registered to vote.
The benefit of compulsory voting is that it allows candidates to focus on issues, not drum up the vote or court specific focus groups with outlandish promises.
A guaranteed voting populace ensures a higher interest in politics and a more informed public. Knowing they have to mark several boxes, Australians are more engaged in the process.
And when so many people engage, the election results are more or less a mandate of the people. A true democracy.
Its doubtful the United States would ever consider, much less approve of such a solution. But it sure would make us a less polarized nation.
