In Oregon they have vote-by-mail. It works well. No hanging chads, no computers to hack, no butterfly ballots. Increases voter turnout. Oh, wait, that’s not good for conservatives either. Oh well.

Promising to rob Peter to pay Paul, will always garner Paul votes in the long run – result what Romeo13 wrote.

thirteen28 and Pistolero are absolutely right – no one who doesn’t pay taxes should have a right to vote! I can feel the ACLU coming already…

While many countries in Europe and Central- and South-America have mandatory voting laws, and some ask citizens to not drink a couple of days before voting (Mexico), we should stick to our not-so-perfect system.

Education and success in life are the only two factors which enlighten citizens/voters, ultimately.

Sad, but true, voting against someone or for the ‘lesser of two evils’ is often still better than not voting (if one is legal, can prove so, pays taxes and is half-way capable of discerning).

Here in Atlanta, we’re no strangers to the abysmal choices some voters insist on making – Cynthia McKinney, anyone?

wonder if he may not have an idea which will make a democracy work.

Look for a copy of Heinlein’s Take Back Your Government (wegrokit.com).

BTW, I like to consider myself an informed citizen; the fact that I read Michelle should attest to that. However, I have rarely found anyone that I could, in good conscience, vote for; nearly all votes that I have cast have been votes against.

I’ve been telling people for years not to encourage voting. If you would like to help, encourage people to read the United States Constitution, The Federalist Papers. Or a news paper (not the New York Times).

If you want to influence those around you encourage them to educate themselves.

Specify places they can find relevent information.

When you have discussions with friends, insist that sources of information are verifyable. (Anyone who objects is a lost cause)

Above all make sure you can site sources of information. If your unable to do so, you might as well say “your just following your heart” and that’s stupid.

Personally I think if you can’t get off your lazy ass and vote at a polling PLACE then you shouldn’t vote. Unless someone has a physical disability OR is physically out of the state they should be REQUIRED TO VOTE AT A POLLING PLACE.

SALUTE! to your daughter

You may be suprised in a year or two how politicaly astute your daughter becomes… I watched the transition of many young men and women from political innnocents, to knowledgable voters in my Navy Career. You tend to take things VERY seriously when you suddenly realize the people you are voting on can send you to foreign countries and get you killed.

Here, if you are elected, or re-elected like, say, current Cook County Board President John Stroger (who suffered a debilitating stroke before the DemoRat primary but was re-elected anyway), and you cannot or will not complete your term, you simply give the seat to your son or daughter. Stroger has bequeathed his seat to his son, Todd, a political nothing and virtually anonymous.

Or at least that’s what we’re supposed to believe, although it’s hard since no one has seen Stroger since his stroke, except some hack named William Beavers, and, of course, Todd. Letters expressing the heartfelt wishes of Stroger keep popping up with a scrawled signature, but no one sees Stroger sign them.

The hilarious corruption of Chicago politicians, leftists, DemoRats, and the lower form of life known here as Alderman continues unabated, despite the “No Shenanigans” reputation of Straight Arrow U.S. Attorney Pat Fitzgerald, who is, apparently, invisible.

On the race front, Stroger and his political allies have declared that Cook County Board President is now an entitlement of the black political class, despite the fact that Cook County is only 26% black. “We” whites apparently “owe” blacks this office, which will remain in the Stroger family like a broach for some generations.

Gangster Richie Daley, duh Mayr, needs to continue to control those black votes to hold off the illegal aliens who would run for Mayr against him, so he is pulling all the levers over there behind the curtain.

Hey, but maybe we’ll get the Olympics!

And Thirteen28… SST is one of the greatest thought provoking novels of our time… wonder if he may not have an idea which will make a democracy work.

If there is ever a HotAir required reading list, I would definitely nominate this book to be on that list.

I’ve always felt that if your were on the public dole you shouldn’t get to vote. With the possible exception of social security, after having contributed over an entire lifetime. Otherwise the scenario described by Romeo13 is unavoidable.

Absolutely. If taxation without representation is considered unjust, then representation without taxation is unjust for those of us that pay taxes.

Read it… learn it… those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it…

And Thirteen28… SST is one of the greatest thought provoking novels of our time… wonder if he may not have an idea which will make a democracy work.

Michelle Malkin’s latest Hot Air Vent centers around the proposal to essentially make Arizona’s ballot a lottery. Malkin reviews the many come-ons and bribes offered to citizens to exercise their precious right to vote – many of which have ended…

This all ties into why Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein (which bears little resemblance to the “Melrose Place in Space” movie version) is one of my favorite novels. The right to vote in their society was only granted after you had done service – in other words, you had to earn it. While I don’t necessarily think that would be a good idea in practice, I think it expresses the point nicely about the fact that people take the right to vote for granted when they are merely given that right by attaining the age of 18.

Here’s my Vent on that dumb Arizona voter lottery initiative. The Onion weighs in…….

The worst races involve judges, and they are probably the most influential officials affecting our daily lives.

That’s right. If you vote party line and the judges are non-partisan, ask your county party committee to find out who your party candidates are. They know even if it’s not publicly known.

The worst races involve judges, and they are probably the most influential officials affecting our daily lives. The only campaigning I see are signs saying “VOTE FOR YYY”. I spoke with a local judge candidate once and got the impression that he could not give his position about critical issues because that would make him “biased”. And judges are not allowed to be biased.

Hopefully the internet will change all that. In the election coming up I plan to find out who will be on the ballet and google each name so I can make a better decision.