While the SCOTUS hasn't rule on this point, I'm not sure mandatory voting is Constitutional.
For one thing, which article in the Constitution would allow for such a thing? And in any event any such compulsion would certainly run afoul of the First Amendment...the Government's limits on compelling speech are the same as they are on abridging it. Choosing not to vote can be a kind of protest, and protest is certainly protected speech.
I understand what Australia has done, but even setting aside the Constitutional issues, the notion that the Government can compel citizens like that is pretty antithetical to American culture and traditions....one of the primary ones is the right of people to be left alone. I just can't see this ever happening. And I'm not sure what the upside of it would be anyway? Of all the reasons to vote, doing so because you're being forced to under penalty of law by your own Government seems like the worst one. Do we really want people voting under those circumstances?
I think if you were going to try mandatory voting, is should be done as an experiment in one or two states. The Constitution pretty much leaves how elections are conducted to the states anywhere, so they should be the laboratory for it...and the practical and legal issues could be worked out there. Though again, it's hard for me to see this happening any time soon.
You hear a lot of talk in some quarters (I'm not necessarily saying here) about how America should adopt various systems in other countries that appear to work, and if only that were to happen things would be better. Whether it's mandatory voting (Australia), a prohibition on private gun ownership (ibid & the UK), health care (Canada or the UK or NZ), economic system (Scandinavia), political system (European parliamentary) or limits on "hate speech" (Germany).
Except the US is significantly larger and more diverse than all those countries, in terms of both population and economy. America's cultural and legal traditions are different, and simply transplanting what works in x country isn't necessarily going to work in the US. To say nothing about the fact that all those countries and systems have their own issues. Obama knew this with health care reform, HRC knew it when she went after Bernie's love of Scandinavian style socialism. American problems require uniquely American solutions (though you can certainly look to other countries for ideas).
The majority of states already have early voting AND absentee voting. Some states are mail-in only voting. It has not moved the needle as I said.
I don't think that the disengaged care enough to vote regardless of the day or time. And I agree with you that they would be LESS likely to vote on a Saturday.
The only thing I can think of would be internet voting via app or something, the way you do for shareholder meetings but that is rife with problems. First you'd need to get your package with the voter access number in the mail on time (many people move, addresses on file are not updated, voters aren't registered in advance, mail delivery issues), then you'd have to make sure the voting isn't fraudulent, that there is no hacking, double voting, etc. I don't see it as realistic that we're there yet with technology and I also worry that people would see such elections as illegitimate.
I know a lot of places already do it, and think in some states mail in voting has had an impact. Though on the whole I agree with you, the problem is apathy, not convenience (a census bureau study a while back seems to confirm this).
And I agree that we are a
long way off from any kind of internet voting that would be secure enough to satisfy everyone.
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