Alexandria — To the Editor:
Henry M. Covert ("Why Not Compulsory Voting?", Sept. 19) argues, "Just as licenses are required to drive on public and private roadways residents should be required to vote or face a fine." Covert's argument, such as it is, is flawed on several grounds. First, analogizing voting to driver's licenses is faulty because the two share no similarities; the former is a right, the second a privilege. Second, compulsory voting is inherently undemocratic. And finally, compulsory voting implicitly ignores the reality that non-voting is a legitimate form of political expression, especially when there are no clear differences between the candidates.
Craig Taylor
Alexandria