Quote:
Originally posted by Amputate Your Head
so then you're saying that it IS a requirement?
and what is the penalty for not filling this requirement? Prison?
Voting can be revoked as well. That makes it a privelege.
Maybe YOU should do some reading, and try engaging your god given brain. 
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I said it's a responsability. Go ahead and read this, educate yourself a bit:
All systems of Government involve social contracts between the governed and the governors. In a democracy the contract is a complicated interaction between various institutions and differs in application from place to place. However in all democracies there are common elements. One of these, for example, is the rule of law: citizens accept and submit themselves to the enforcement of laws by courts and police. Voting is the same: as part of the democratic contract it is incumbent on all eligible citizens to live up to their end of the bargain. Just as a court summons creates an obligation for a citizen to appear, so does the call to vote.
Waiving this obligation is an abdication of one's responsibility under the democratic system and it robs the elected of a proper mandate to rule. It hobbles the notion of democracy and represents a breakdown in that social contract.
Unfortunately too many view democracy as something of a menu, where many parts can be picked and choosen as they like. That erodes the very basis of the system, one of the key elements that allows the citizenery to exert their limited control over those that rule.
If you fail to live up to that then you have no right to take issue with the results. Furthermore some argue free will allows for non-voting, which is obvious claptrap. Democracy does confirm many freedoms, but always with limits; and they also use coercion. You are not free to choose to shoot your fellow citizen. You are not free to abuse free speech to impeach someone else's character without basis. You are not free to speed as fast you can on the road. You must pay tax. You must obey the law.
The idea doesn't stand up that not voting is allowed because of free will. Otherwise we are living in anarchy, not democracy. For those that argue that limits on freedoms come into play only when they impact someone else, not voting falls in the same category. By not making any choice the non-voter robs a democracy of legitimacy and thus affects everybody.
There are many reasons people choose not to vote: antipathy or ambivalence to the candidates, laziness, ignorance, or a combination of these. None are legitimate excuses for avoiding your end of the social contract.