system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
CMV: The USA should move to compulsory voting

Non-compulsory voting, while offering the freedom for people to opt out of politics, has the unfortunate side effect of extreme partisanship.

It leads to political leaders that worry about firing up their bases to get them out and voting, rather than focussing on swing voters. This ultimately pushes candidates and parties to the far extreme or the political spectrum.

With compulsory voting, they only have to keep their bases happy enough to not vote for the competition. Instead they have to focus on convincing swing voters they're the best choice to represent them, which moderates both the parties and the candidates.

It's also not a perfect system, as it often results in major parties that are too similar. But I would argue this is a better result than a gaping political ravine between two extremes. That's not only unhealthy politically - the truth is rarely at an extreme - it's unhealthy culturally.

Implementation would be difficult, both politically (incumbent politicians aren't going to implement a system that would change who would get voted in) and practically.

But it'd be worth it, to both moderate American politics which have grown increasingly divisive, and bridge the massive cultural divides appearing.

Edit: a number of people have raised not wanting to vote for any candidate. Compulsory voting doesn't mean you have to vote for a candidate, it just means you have to show up and submit a ballot. You can still vote for no one, but it makes doing so an active rather than passive choice.
gpt
Why not simply make it easier to vote? Some states mail ballots to every registered voter. This makes it incredibly easy to fill out, so easy that independents will vote and so easy that people who are truly apathetic won't vote at all. This lessens partisanship but doesn't force people don't want to participate or don't feel informed enough to make a choice.