If I may step out of my voluntaryist shoes for a moment, for the sake of thought experiment, I’d like to propose the following change to elections in the United States and elsewhere:
Non-voters are counted as a vote of “no confidence,” in which a majority of such votes would reset the particular race to be re-cast 12 months later.
Trump, the winner, received votes from only 22% of eligible voters; Hillary, the loser, received 24%. 54% went to neither.
Subtract the third-party candidates, you’re looking at votes of “no confidence” at around 48% of eligible voters for the presidential race.
Under my proposal, the race would be reset, primaries and all, to be re-cast 12 months later, Election Day.
As it stands now, a minority of eligible voters decide the winner. Does that sound “fair”?
It begs the question, would anyone ever be elected in the thousands of races that take place across the world? While I would hope not, yes, I think they would, but only those who truly have the hearts and minds of the people they claim the right to rule. If they don’t, then they won’t.
What do you think?
(Let me go take a shower to wash the muck off before slipping back into my voluntaryist shoes.)
