I am in Brasil this week and had an interesting conversation with one of my hosts last night.
I discovered that voting is mandatory in Brasil. If you don't vote, you can't get or renew a passport, you can't get a job. Maybe more. You can submit a justification, but if you blow it off, the consequences are strong.
Also, Brasil does not work on voting day. How civilized is that?
The United States should take a look at this system. It seems to me that much of the mess we are in at the present moment was brought about by apathy on the part of the voting public.
The percentage of voters doing their duty in any given election is 90-95%.