> while philosophically I don't want to see any barriers to voting, full participation is not a good thing in the abstract.
Have you ever heard people say, when government policies transfer wealth from the young to the old, that it's because young voters have low voting rates while old voters have high voting rates?
If you believe politicians will naturally favour the interests of demographics who vote, then having equal voting rates across all demographics is required for a just society.
(Not that it's worked flawlessly for Australia, I'll admit)
Have you ever heard people say, when government policies transfer wealth from the young to the old, that it's because young voters have low voting rates while old voters have high voting rates?
If you believe politicians will naturally favour the interests of demographics who vote, then having equal voting rates across all demographics is required for a just society.
(Not that it's worked flawlessly for Australia, I'll admit)