Resolved: in a democracy voting ought to be compulsory

Please debate this in LD format and only LD format. i will start with presenting the NEGATIVE case. then YOU can present your case and argue against mine. "Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner" because I agree with James Bovard I must negate resolution resolved: In a democracy, voting ought to be compulsory. I offer the following definitions from Merriam Webster. 1.Democracy: a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives. 2.Voting: usually formal expression of opinion or will in response to a proposed decision 3.Ought: used to expressed obligation 4.Compulsory: mandatory or enforced My value for today"s debate is that of autonomy defined as self-directing freedom and especially moral independence. Government"s already has enough freedom restrictions by mandating taxes, education, and jury duty. Citizens do not need to have more freedoms taken away from them. It is un-just to tell people they do not have a choice to vote when they might not show an interest in voting. This brings me to my criterion of Aristotle"s theory of freedom. Aristotle claims that voluntary choice in relation to moral responsibility is based on freedom. He points out that we should on give praise to voluntary freedom. He further claims that force or ignorance brings about involuntary action. Essentially saying we cannot educate every citizen about what they are voting for, that"s why we cannot force voting upon every citizen. We must leave it as a choice if a citizen wants to vote or not. Contention 1: Mandatory voting violates ones autonomy. Forcing someone to vote on a topic they might not be aware of at all or something they do not want to vote on is un-just because it takes away their freedom. For example, if you are 16 you have the option to drive, that does not mean you HAVE to drive. You might not feel comfortable driving or you might not know how to drive yet. Just like driving, voting is the same way, when you"re 18 you have the choice to vote or not. You might not feel comfortable voting or you might not know anything about what you"re voting for. Also you might not have time to vote. According to the U.S. census most of the time people do not vote is because they are too busy with other things like school, work, or family situations. Then there are people who are handicap and cannot make it to the poll"s to vote. Should they get fined for not being able to walk or get access to the polls? Compulsory voting is not consistent with the freedom associated with democracy. Contention 2: Reforming the voting system is better than making it compulsory. Instead of thinking "we have to force everyone to vote for a government to be legitiment" we can look at changing the system to do what is best for everyone in a democracy. Forcing people to vote to get "everyone to vote" might sound like it is the best thing to do but when you force people to vote on something they might not know anything about will actually hurt the democracy. There are other options before forcing people to vote. We can reform the voting system to educate people about voting and show everyone how important their vote really is. The democracy can offer classes, online ballots, go house to house, and give rides to people to vote. Compulsory voting is just not reasonable or realistic. That will be all : ) <3