The foundation of our opposition to mandatory voting is that it's the government imposing on the electorate or on its citizens an obligation to do something. If there's a box on a form where you click and say that you're not voting, you're obliged to be there to fill in that box. What right does government have to tell me that I have to go to a place to check a box that says I'm not voting? A right is inherent to a citizen. It belongs to me.
The state can't come in and tell me how I'm going to use that right, how to exercise that right, or even if I should be exercising that right. Where does that stop? We have a number of rights in the charter. Where does it stop? Does it stop with the right to mobility or the right to vote? Where are we going to go next?
Also, in terms of whatever penalty is imposed for my not showing up and checking the little box, who's that really going to affect? Is it going to be a $50 fine? At some point, I heard somebody who was in front of the committee say that maybe it would be a fine of $75, that it wouldn't be very much. Well, $75 isn't a lot to me, but $75 is a lot of money to my daughter, who is 27 years old and living on a very tight budget. Also, it's a lot of money to the homeless people who are living right outside the Delta hotel here.