Should it be illegal to sit out an election?
In the name of “strengthening our democracy,” State Representative Dylan Fernandes has introduced a bill to force Bay State citizens to vote in November general elections — whether they want to or not. In California, Assemblyman Marc Levine goes even further: Declaring that “democracy is not a spectator sport,” he has submitted legislation to strong-arm Californians into taking part in every election, including local and primary contests.
Their goal is to make democracy better, but their results would make it worse.
Presumably, Fernandes and Dylan would not describe their respective...