An assignment for one of my classes was to propose a new voting system. I felt the following was a good suggestion…
Two serious issues that rear their ugly heads in politics, especially the politics of the United States of America, are voter apathy and voter ignorance. These problems pose a serious threat to the future of the nation in which they dominate. Thus, somewhat in the vein of Jonathan Swift, I present a somewhat Modest Proposal of my own to combat these terrible issues.
I suggest a process in which both voter apathy and voter ignorance are addressed in order to not only increase the quantity of votes but the quality of votes as well. The first part is rather simple, the government should seize all funds being used for campaigning. Since most of this money is funneled into attack advertisements and distributing heavily spun information anyway, the government could make much better use of it. This money would then be used to hire small business hit men to threaten people into voting. This coercion would not only improve voter turnout, but it would also help to revitalize the economy as it performs a Robin Hood action of taking money from the rich and gives it to the struggling “Joe Six-Gun.” Of course this would only use a small fraction of the funds that were seized by the government. In the last election, Barack Obama had “raised more than $600 million” by mid-October (“Obama Recasts the Fund-Raising Landscape,” Luo, 19 October 2008). The remaining of the funds could be put to good use on the route to the ballot box.
Many voters simply do not believe that their vote is important or that it’s worth their time to cast their vote. Obviously the threat of their livelihood will get them out to vote, however this does not guarantee that they will take the time to make an informed decision. Thus the remaining campaign funds should be used to riddle the route to the polling place with hazards. The specifics would be left up to the precinct as they would receive an allowance of funds and be inspected to be sure that their dangers are up to code. Some acceptable examples would include but not be limited to: wild, ravenous animals, more gunmen, bear traps, other game traps, puzzles, mazes, Indiana Jones-esque boulder traps, and gladiatorial combat at the polling place. It is clear that if a potential voter has to clear a series of trial to cast their vote, they are going to want to make sure their vote counts since it was so difficult. And because of the threat to their lives if they don’t vote, they will be forced to risk their lives to vote and become informed.
While this is clearly not the only solution to combat voter apathy and ignorance, it is most definitely a viable one.
