Should we have mandatory voting in the United States?

There is a distinct desire on the left to get money out of our politics, which is laudable. And there is an audible desire from the right to make politicians stop selling favors via the government. And among this conversation is the topic of mandatory voting.

But in the zeal to fix these things, there are a few terrible ideas being proposed. It comes down to freedom versus force, and this is what defines America in 2016.

One ludicrous idea is to have the government force all citizens to vote — mandatory voting. Well, Turkey and Belgium have laws like this and their countries are troublesome, to say the least. 

Oh, and mandatory voting is forced speech. If you have to be pushed to vote, you have no business voting.

Years ago, Governor Christine Gregoire made us a signee to what I call the “Electoral College Suicide Pact.” This says to the voters in Washington state that the larger states in this country will pick the presidents; that your voice in Washington state won’t count in national elections. But the opposite should be the case. 

Instead of mandatory voting, what we should have is a one day, national voting day, with voting booths. And maybe it should be a national holiday.