Two of the ruling parties in Bulgaria, National Movement for Stability and Progress (NMSP) and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) disagree on compulsory voting for the upcoming municipal elections.
NMSP is the party that proposed compulsory voting, mediapool.bg said. Those who refrain from voting will be either fined or deprived of the right to vote in the future.
MRF deputy leader Lyutvi Mestan said that NMSP’s idea was ‘infantile’ and the party’s arguments for the suggestion were groundless.
According to Mestan the “voters’ free will and compulsory voting were two separate things.”
Mestan also said that MPs should look for the reasons for the low electoral activity instead of introducing voting restrictions. People refrained from voting because of their dissatisfaction, and compulsory voting introduction would be “undeserved punishment,” he said.
NMSP MP Mincho Spasov said that Bulgaria, instead of the party, would benefit from the compulsory voting.
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 | COMPULSORY VOTING :
In 1996, President Bill Clinton received 49.2% of the votes cast. Saddam Hussein showed he could do better by holding an election in Iraq and he recieved 100% of the vote.
Why? The 96 million American voters in the US election had a choice among 3 major candidates. Plus, anyone who voted against Saddam faced jail, torture or death.
Having worked in Russia after the fall of communism and in Iraq after the fall of Saddam. The impact of 70 years of a totalitarian regime in Russia and 35 years of Saddam resulted in an population of fearful people, and it still shows. Bulgaria had the same experience.
Freedom means living without fear. Complusory means you have to do what you are told or suffer the consequences. Take your choice --vote or don't vote.
I was an elected official-- Council member and Mayor for 12 years and took my experience to Iraq helping to build democratic local governments. Holding elections was a major goal. It required months of training and teaching Iraqis just how to vote. The number of Iraqi who went to the polls were overwhelming for the conditions there.
In my elections-- winning 3 and losing 1-- I always received between 2500 and 300 votes. A total of 18,000 voters were elgible to vote and about 5,000 participated in the election.
Most candidates work hard campaigning and trying to get the citizens out to vote. We try, but most Americans are not interested or to lazy.
In American presidential elections we are down to about 50% of eligible voters.
If we in the US required our citizens to vote, they would rebel. We have freedom of choice-- whether or not to vote and who to vote for.
In order for Bulgaria to continue moving from a totalitarian to a representative form of government, the citizens must learn what freedom and choice is about and their responsibilities to maintain it. If you have to require the people of Bulgaria to vote you're returning to your past. If you teach the people, they can make their way to the future.
In closing, my favorite saying with respect to representative government is "...a government of the people, by the people, for the people." Abraham Lincoln, US President, Gettysburg Address, 1864.
P.S. I would be happy to come to Bulgaria and teach local government and elections. My son has a home there.
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