Democratic Responsibility

Ahhh, sweet democracy. Here is my idea, make people earn their day off for Election Day. Most people get a paid day off to vote, if they don't get paid the government should re-reimburse them; however, there is a catch. It order to get paid, voters must attend a mandatory voter education class. In the class, there will be a video or person explaining each candidate or issue on the ballot. Each candidate can have someone read a short description of them or they can show a video (distribution of videos will be paid for by the government). Presidential candidates will get three minutes, Congressman will get 2 minutes, and everything else gets a minute. In most states, classes should be less than 30 minutes. People will also have the option to take the classes anytime before Election Day. After the class is over, people can take literature on issues and are told where the nearest library is in case they wanted to do more research. In addition to getting a day's wage for voting (if you've taken the class). People will also be eligible for a $50 tax refund if they vote (Note: people can choose to vote for nobody; however, they have to go to the booth.)

Furthermore, people with valid driver's licences should not have to register at all. They just show up at any voter booth and have thier driver's licence number checked against a database to see if they voted somewhere else. Technology, use it! For people without a licence than they still need to register. At least, this is a step in the right direction. In some countries, when you vote, they put a special ink on your finger that you can't get off for a few days. It a nice, cheap way of making sure people don't vote twice.

Democracy is a responsibility. The education of citizen is key to the ability of a democracy to function in the best interest of the people. Democracy is also the responsibility of government to help citizens understand the process.