President Obama Floats Idea For Mandatory Voting in the US

CLEVELAND (AP) — President Barack Obama is floating the idea of making it mandatory to vote in the United States.

Obama is discussing voting rights and campaign finance in an appearance at the City Club of Cleveland. He says the U.S. should be making it easier — not harder — to vote.

The president is noting that countries like Australia have mandatory voting. He says if everyone voted in the U.S., it would completely change the political map.

Obama says it would be "transformative" and would counteract the influence of money in politics more than anything else.

Obama also says he thinks it would be "fun" for the U.S. to consider a constitutional amendment to decrease the role of money in elections. But he says that would realistically take a long time.

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