Show I I JO TO PENALIZE N VOTERS I Governor Fort of New Jersey In a recent message to the legislature of that state suggested sted the enactment of ofa ofa ofa a statute penalizing qualified qua voters for failure to exercise the right of f suffrage Commenting on this an eastern contemporary says says It Is impossible however hoe er to make I anything practical out of these corn com compulsory com compulsory voting propositions There is far too great a range for the rational exercise of individual discretion and Judgment A voter may stay away from the polls not because hp he h Is In Inattentive inattentive inattentive attentive to his duties but because be ause he lie heis heIs lieis is dissatisfied with the candidates for tor whom he has an opportunity to vote Assuming that there are two he may believe that they are both unfit on personal grounds Or neither of them may represent the political Ideas In which he has faith In either case he will not choose between them be because because because cause as he would put It there is nothing to choose The occasions for indifference on such accounts are common They are often effective with Independent vot voters voters ers who see little in some elections but the maneuvering of ot worthless of who use party part names to I confuse and betray the people Then there are times when sincere party workers are 30 so 50 disgusted by bythe the actions of conventions of their own party that they feel themselves disfranchised They The will wiil not support the th unacceptable ble nominee that has been forced upon them and party loyalty loyatt prevents them I from turning to the opposition This Is an tn n easily answered argument On every voting machine and on every ballot allot blank spaces are provided so that the voter who is dissatisfied with the tue regularly or irregularly named can candidate candidate candidate I for office can an write in the I I names of the men he prefers It is I true that there is Ii i hardly an instance on record in which voting of this char character character character I acter has done any practical good That Thatis I is the candidates so voted for have rarely or never been elected I But the vote Is effective as a form I of protest and every citizen Is free freeto freeto freeto I to exercise It as he h sees fit The plea that none of the candidates selected by bythe b bythe the various parties is acceptable Is not nota a sound one It Is not a valid ex excuse excuse excuse cuse for tor or failure to vote The Herald does not ask all voters to vote for one jet set et or another of the names on the official ballot It does believe that ev every every every ery citizen should vote for somebody in every ever election We e believe the man who falls fails to vote Is not a good cit citizen citizen citizen izen In at least one European country Austria a penalty for not voting is pro provided provided provided vided The result has been entirely satisfactory The law has worked well If people were penalized for failure to vote party election expenses would be reduced to a minimum and we would have the unusual spectacle of seeing the offices won by b the most popular candidates rather than by the candi candidates candidates candidates dates of the party having the largest campaign campa fund n |