Here’sa short rant about a topic that’s bothered me for a long time: The dismal voter turnout in the US I have a hunch that disasters like the current US administration (Bush) could be avoided if voting was compulsory instead of voluntary.下面短期言论，有关这一议题的困扰我很长一段时间：可悲的投票率在美国我有一个预感到灾害一样，本届美国政府（布什）是可以避免的，如果投票是强制性的而不是自愿的。 You may laugh, but compulsory voting is strictly enforced in Australia, for example.您可能会笑，但投票是强制性的严格执行在澳大利亚的例子。 In the US about 50% of those old enough to vote actually do so.在美国大约50 ％的人老得足以投票实际上这样做。 Only about 70% of eligible voters even register to vote, which certainly contributes to the de-facto voter apathy.只有约70 ％的合格选民甚至登记投票，这当然有助于事实上选民的冷漠。 The US has a long history of making voting hard and difficult for the general populace, which is a shame and completely contrary to our country’s democratic claims.美国有着悠久的历史使投票硬，难以为一般民众，这是一种耻辱，完全违背了我们国家的民主要求。 Let’s make up for these years of neglect and make voting mandatory!让我们为这些年的忽视和作出强制性投票！ I believe strongly that the majority of people are decent and if given the facts will make decent decisions at the ballot box (a conviction that our present government does not seem to share, given the revelations of fraud and misinformation that have recently surfaced).我坚信，大多数人都体面，如果有事实将作出决定体面在投票箱（一信念，即我们目前的政府似乎并没有分享，因为揭露欺诈和误导最近出现） 。 Let’s make voting for general elections (Congress, Presidential) mandatory!让我们投票选举（美国国会，总统）的强制性！ And while we are at it, let’s remove the barriers (eg advance voter registration) that have traditionally reduced turnout.而我们正处于它，让我们消除障碍（如提前选民登记）具有传统的降低率。 The United States of American will become a better nation if everybody participates.美利坚合众国将成为一个更美好的国家，如果每个人都参与。