This is a fact everyone gunning for political office is aware of. So while most people are making noise on social media about who should be elected and who should not, politicians go to rural areas, not the cities. The reason is quite simple, large percentage of people in villages and rural areas don't have enough knowledge to resist being manipulated by politicians. While the ones in the city are too busy to vote.
Moreover, manipulating such people doesn't cost much, compared to those in the city. Since they are not aware of how much power their vote carries, with few pennies and a promise for a better future, they would scream the names of their oppressors and gladly cast their votes for them. This is one of the issues democracy face, when the masses lack policital awareness or education, how do you expect them to vote a capable leader into power.
So, instead of trusting voters to make their own decision, either to choose to vote or not, why not force them? It might make sense to ordinary people or people who don't understand the nature of humans. The reason why democracy was introduced is to eradicate tyranny or absolutism. To give power to the people and make leaders be at the mercy of the people. The moment we allow a system that forces voters to vote, it will be abused.
Even as it is right now, in a country like mine, it is getting very difficult to trust the electoral commission to do their jobs. Now imagine if those people are also given the power to force voters to vote during elections, then the leader that is voted into power might not necessarily be the choice of the people but the choice of those who forced the people to vote the elected candidate. The freewill and choice will no longer be with the people but in the hands of those who dictates how the voting exercise should be carried out.
This write-up was inspired by weekly featured content titled Voting by force in hive learners community.
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