it came to my attention today that voting is obligatory in this country. during my 'public sector economics' class, the professor mentioned the possibility of having optional voting. obviously, it generated -like almost any other topic he brings up- lots of micro-conversations within the classroom. a brazilian guy next to me, who is also keen on micro-conversations during class, began to tell me about the different things that could happen if brazilians do not vote and then proceeded to ask me how it was in Guatemala.
some of the interesting things he said were that everyone is forced to vote in order to have a job... this is the way he said it and then he explained himself. i know, i reacted just as you did. let me explain this a little better. any person who does not vote, must pay a fee as a punishment and it is somehow recorded. Voting in this country is a right and a responsibility so not doing it for a several number of times might prevent you from getting a job and this is one of the worst things you could have on your criminal record.
i thought it was interesting because i've always sort of wanted Guatemala to have that system, but it becomes complicated because i could see many problems arising... most of these problems would be caused be the fact that some of the voters would be assymetrically informed by being people who don't know how to read and write, or also because we have people with political apathy, or people who would be willing to sell their vote to corrupt politicians...
ah well, just wanted to spark some thoughts and hopefully get some responses from this...
some of the interesting things he said were that everyone is forced to vote in order to have a job... this is the way he said it and then he explained himself. i know, i reacted just as you did. let me explain this a little better. any person who does not vote, must pay a fee as a punishment and it is somehow recorded. Voting in this country is a right and a responsibility so not doing it for a several number of times might prevent you from getting a job and this is one of the worst things you could have on your criminal record.
i thought it was interesting because i've always sort of wanted Guatemala to have that system, but it becomes complicated because i could see many problems arising... most of these problems would be caused be the fact that some of the voters would be assymetrically informed by being people who don't know how to read and write, or also because we have people with political apathy, or people who would be willing to sell their vote to corrupt politicians...
ah well, just wanted to spark some thoughts and hopefully get some responses from this...
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