I take a diametrically opposed viewpoint to this. Everyone should be <i>required</i> to vote. In Australia, among other nations, if you don't vote you pay a fine. Voting in the U.S. should be as mandatory as jury duty, if not more so.<p>When you are <i>required</i> to do something, and when all of your peers, family, and friends are required to do the same thing, it generates a much greater discussion around it.<p>There's this view in the US that voting is a right, not a privilege. When you treat something as non-valuable, then its much easier to take that thing away. Thinking of something as a privilege like borrowing your parents' car when you're young or having the freedom to worship your religion of choice or not makes it much more valuable to you. (Yes, I know that freedom of religion is a right. Don't be pedantic and quibble. People treat the issue like a privilege, whether its a Constitutional right or not.)<p>In the US, the right to bear arms is considered sacred by many. While its referred to as a 'right', millions of Americans treat it like a privilege. When someone threatens to take that away, people are rather vocal about protecting it.<p>So you're right, I won't tell you to vote. But I will do everything in my power to <i>force</i> you to vote, and to care about what you're being required to do. This is one time that telling people to have and care about an opinion is better for everyone.