The Cheddar Box makes some pretty good points about the need to change the election process. While I do think we need some sort of change to make the process easier to understand, I don't know if I can agree with all his suggestions:

"First: Allow for same day voter registration...People stay away from the polls because the process is so damn confusing. Same day registration would go along way towards increasing voter turnout and making it easier for people to exercise their political will."

Excellent point. Why is it so damn complicated to vote? It seems easier enough: fill out a form, mail it in, show up and vote. But being someone who missed a critical deadline herself, I am totally for figuring out ways to make it easier. I moved recently, and didn't register my new address, so my polling place was in another city, and I was too dumb to figure it out in time and do an absentee ballot, which brings up how I'm not even completely sure how a freakin' absentee ballot works. The whole thing has made me feel like and idiot (O.K., I know it's on me for not paying attention to how it all works. My bad).

"Second: Abolish all of the restrictions against ex-prisoners having the right to vote. Some states actually have lifetime bans against anyone who has done some time in prison. These folks are not allowed to vote for the rest of their lives! This is straight up disenfranchisement. Seeing as how most people in prison are Black and Latino, and those two groups have been shown to vote overwhelmingly Democratic in the past, its no wonder that felony disenfranchisement is always supported by Republicans."

An interesting point. If people are reformed, they should have a chance to vote, right? I mean, people change. Not to get all bleeding heart liberal or something, but I'm all about second chances.

"Third: Make voting mandatory. Yeah, I said it. A lot of other democratic countries do this. What would be the argument against it? Taking away people’s choice to vote? Seeing as how our whole political system is dependent on people voting, I don’t see how making voting a mandatory part of living in America would be such a bad thing. If people didn’t vote, they could get fined a small fee, like $10-$20. It wouldn’t be about punishing people for not voting, it would be about making voting a norm in society. Countries that have mandatory voting have around a 90% voter turnout rate, compared to our rates that are usually between 20%-40%."

O.K. Not sure I can agree with the Cheddar Box here. Yes, we need to encourage better voter turnout. But, I'm not sure making it mandatory would really work. If you force people to do it, then they most likely won't be passionated enough, or informed enough to make a good decision. They'll just vote because they have to. When have any of us responded well to things that we have to do?

As confusing and seemingly unfair the electoral college crap seems, there's a reason it's in place. People are stupid. The masses, myself included, often don't understand the full context of their actions. But, I do have to say, I think a mandatory election is not an idea to be written off completely. If there was a way to encourage easier decision making in the process, I think over a long span of time the process would instill a sense of devotion in citizens. Maybe eventually people would start to see the importance of their role in the system and it will be enough to want to bear the responsibility of making informed decisions.