I just heard from an Aussie friend of mine yesterday that voting in the land down under is mandatory otherwise you are fined, heavily.
After seeing the voter apathy prevalent in certain parts of our country - to be fair, I won't specify which parts-I'm beginning to think it's a good idea, though it flys in the face of the very principles of what this nation stands for, freedom and liberty. Voter turnout is so poor in some parts (less than 30%), one wonders if people even know what the elections are about.
I'm almost positive that if voting was mandatory we wouldn't see a lot of the problems we have today. Now I'm really opening this up to some strong opinions, but I think it's a subject worth discussing.
Another thing, if you don't vote-don't complain. And don't tell me that my vote doesn't matter, because I think it does, at least I hope it does.