We want to begin on the sunday morning with the question, should the u. S. Require mandatory voting . For democrats, the number to call is 202 7488000. For republicans, the number is 202 7488001. We also have a line for independents. 202 7458002. We welcome our listeners on cspan radio and around the world. You can send us a tweet at cspanwj. Or join us on facebook, facebook. Com cspan. In yemen rebels call supporters to arms. There will be a special meeting with the Un Security Council today in new york city. We want to get your opinion on mandatory voting. Should it be required. . Here is a story from the hill newspaper. This is part of a question in cleveland. Both, the president floating the idea of mandatory voting as a strategy in the short term to counter money and politics. In australia and other countries, there is mandatory voting. Remarks coming in response to the corrosive role of money and politics. The president says that his department of justice would defend voting rights. Heres more from cleveland last week. [video clip] president obama in australia and other countries there is mandatory voting. It would be transformative if everyone voted. That would counteract money more than anything. If everybody voted that it would completely change the political map of this country. The people who tend not to vote our young, lower income, skewed more heavily towards immigrant groups and minority groups. They are often a full to the folks who are scratching and climbing to get into the middle class. They are working hard. Theres a reason why some folks try to keep them away from the polls. We should want to try and get them in the polls. That may end up being a better strategy in the short term. Host the, said the president ofthe comments of the president at a town hall meeting in cleveland, ohio. Heres the question. Should the u. S. Require mandatory voting . Again, you can join in on the conversation. 202 7488000 for democrats. 202 7488001 for republicans. As we said at the beginning of the program, ted cruz to enter what will be a very crowded field of republican president ial candidates. The Houston Chronicle confirming that story. Cruz will announce at a complication taking place at Liberty University in virginia. He spoke on the condition of anonymity in the primary. He hopes to be the second choice of a enough voters to be a key player, and when some of the primary elections. He spoke in New Hampshire last week. Tomorrows event will be on our network as well. He is expected to talk around 10 25 a. M. Eastern time. Our question is should the u. S. Require mandatory voting . Latoya is joining us. Good morning, youre on the air. Caller good morning. I think it should be mandatory that everybody votes. It would make a difference. Host thank you very much for the call. Lets go to brian and michigan. Also on the democrats line. Good morning, your take on this question . Caller my take on it is that president obama is absolutely right. The us trillions been doing it this way for 60 or 20 years. They have about 97 compliance with voting. Everything goes well down there. Host hey, brian, while i have you on the phone, the other news this week is that Oregon Governor k bay is brown is making it obligate toryory to register to vote when you register your car. When you think about . Caller i thought they are already doing that. Also, have a National Holiday for voting. Host jenny from ohio. Good morning. Caller you know, i dont really like obama very much, but he has a good point. I totally agree with him. Everybody should be required to vote. Host why is that . Caller you put people in office, everyone should give their opinion. Host 202 7488000 for democrats. 202 7488001 for republicans. Bloomberg politics also writing about this. Why dont people take the time to register and show up on election day . Oregon is poised to find out if automatic Voter Registration will lead to greater turnout. The department of Motor Vehicle registration will require people to register to vote. The president giving no indication if he will pursue such a plan. Harold is next from illinois. Democrats line. Caller i dont think we ought to have mandatory voting. Mandatory kind of sounds too restrictive actually. I would like to see it more readily available. Maybe like when you fill out your taxes, you low on your tax form. That year, all of them are voted up, and maybe some term limits would be nice. Thats my comment. Host bill is next. Charlottesville, virginia. Good morning. Your take on this . Caller im in favor, but i know what the penalty is if you dont vote. That goes into the decision to them host o. Host Richard Rogers has this mandatory voting, a sad comment on democracy . Another says, we wouldnt be america anymore. Several nations have tried, but dropped the idea, it including chile, fiji. If times are good, and major parties are in agreement, a major turn out to be a sign of a healthy democracy. At times of discontent when parties are not providing a clear alternative, not voting is being question. Mark is joining us from nebraska. Good morning. Caller good morning. I thought this was a free country. If we are not a free country why make it mandatory . Host thank you for the comment. Another viewer, jd reading says no one should be compelled to vote but voting day should be made a holiday to make it easier to vote. You can send us a tweet cspanwj. 202 7488000 for democrats. 202 7488001 for republicans. Teresa from new jersey. Good morning. Caller good morning. Happy sunday. I want to state that i dont think it should be required, mandatory voting. If they had candidates out there who we dont want to vote for. Will the independent also be required in mandatory voting . I know i comes down to actual voting, it comes down to democrat or republican. I want to know that, as well as the penalty which the man stated earlier. What will be the penalty of we dont vote . Host keep in mind that the president didnt give a speech on this. He was given a question and it was the general comment. Of course, it is sparking a lot of debate. There is this from msnbc. The homepage from Rachel Maddow saying no, the comments were an official endorsement. The president seems to have given this some thought reminding ohioans that australia has mandatory voting. The president unexpected comments nevertheless, raises a question worthy of debate. It is mandatory voting an idea with mary . Next is joe says us from fort lauderdale, florida. Caller good morning. My comment is unfortunately, my opinion is half the country is it well read or well informed on a lot of the issues, or even the candidates, to make them mandatory to go and vote. I would really not want them in the voting booth. You dont know what you would come up with. I would rather have someone informed, and knowing the issues in their picking who and what they want. Host jail from fort lauderdale. Edward has this on her twitter page, i think it is a good idea, we are the only country with such a low vote turnout. Next is jim from our independent line in tennessee. Jim, good morning. Caller i dont think we should require voting. When somebody doesnt vote, they are abstaining. They dont like the choices that the republicans and democrats, and other parties are giving them. Host next is a viewer from north carolina. Is it just caller correct. Our forefathers died to give us the right to vote. I find a very sad that our young people dont realize it. I thought maybe if they would do some classes in school, high school, and push them issues on whats going on today, and presented to the kids and high school, so they can learn how to be better informed of their parents are not, if they are parents who dont vote. You understand what im saying . Host absolutely. Caller if this were presented in high school, they would realize the history behind it and how we managed to get the right to vote. Thats thanks to George Washington, i do believe. I dont believe it should be mandatory. This is something that i dont understand why would have to be mandatory, i guess. Host thank you for the call from north carolina. Also from north carolina, john says, mandatory voting would result in uncontested democratic victories. The ignorant and uninformed are the bread and butter of the left. From inside the New York Times obama says he told netanyahu that Campaign Talk hurt the peace process. [video clip] president obama i had a chance to speak to Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday. I congratulate his party on its victory. I did indicate to him that we continue to believe that a two state solution is the only way for the long longterm security of israel. I indicated to him that given his statements prior to the election, it is going to be hard to find a path where people are seriously believing that negotiations are possible. We are evaluating whats taking place. I think Prime Minister netanyahu still has the form of government. We will be in close consultation with them. We will make sure, regardless of disagreements we have on policy, that our military and Intelligence Corporation to keep the israeli people safe continues. That cooperation also helps the American People stay safe. We are going to continue to and insist that from our point of view, the status quo is unsustainable, and while taking into complete account israel security, we cant maintain the status quo and expand settlements. That is not a recipe for stability in the region. Host that interview with having to is also Available Online. In Weekly Standard the best laid plans of obama. If anything, efforts to campaign against netanyahu backfired. This morning, we are asking the question, should the u. S. Require mandatory voting . Our next caller joining us from bloomington, indiana. Caller i have a simple answer to this but also in interesting opinion. That answer is yes. The reason i believe that the requirement would be completely valid is when the United States was founded, there was the unanimous decision to the clare George Washington president of the United States. Under any conditions where of voting requirement would be mandated to the people the United States, that voting requirement would bring people who believe in some of the most dynamic positions that have made our country the best on earth. What would it mean . You were just go player check mark next to someone because you like their policies. Thank you. Host on our facebook page, a lot of you weighing in. This is from tracy saying, are we supposed to be a free country . Stanley says, yes, make a National Holiday. Nikki shares this quote from abraham lincoln. This is from frank who says, it is a privilege, not a gun to the head saying like health care. Williams says, no, the right to stay and is just as the right to vote. Our next caller joining us from virginia. Republican line. Caller i say no to mandatory voting. I should have that freedom if i want to vote or not. I shouldnt have someone dictate to me what i have to do when it comes to voting. That should be my own choice. Host kevin is our next caller from arsenal, texas. Republican line. Should the u. S. Require mandatory voting . Caller i would say no. Im reminded that liberals are for people doing whatever they want as long as it is mandatory. Thats how i feel about it. Thank you. Host both the house and senate are in session this week. Then, congress is out for two weeks for the easterpassover break. The question this week, will the set senate take up the nomination of the lynch . The senate had two things to do this week, pass the bill on sexual slavery, and vote on the nomination of learner lynch. Neither which they did. They portray the delay as tied some have portray the delay as tied to lynchs sex and gender. Dick durbin saying she is having to say at the back of the bus for her nomination. A clear comparison with rosa parks. Ed on the line from los angeles. Caller good morning, steve and washington journal. Im not sure about that, i think they should get rid of the electoral and make the policies more clear to everybody. They should have a week and vote. Host floyd is next from south carolina. Democrats line. The morning. Caller good morning. I think mandatory voting is a good idea. It would encourage more people to be more informed. Host hows that, floyd . Caller what do you mean by that . Caller if you had to vote, you would be more informed as to whom you are voting for. Host thanks for the call. The New York Times sunday magazine looking at the republican field. Senator ted cruz announcing tomorrow. The piof peace on ben carson. And, the Weekly Standard is jeb bush. Go morning. Good morning. Your idea of mandatory voting what do you think . Caller i think its not a bad idea. When people dont vote, and things dont work out right they tend to want to complain about it more. If they vote, they will have a say on what they had an involvement in. Host appreciate the call. Next is robert. Independent line. What do you think of the idea of mandatory voting . Caller im opposed. Voting is a right. It is a privilege. It shouldnt be mandatory. Whats interesting is we are seeing in certain states and our country that this type of program with the Department Motor vehicle whats interesting is people are given licenses to people from other countries who are waiting to be citizens, and even in some cases, people who are here illegally. The right to vote is for citizens of the United States, not from people who have come here from the other countries, legally or illegally. Host thank you, robert. An obituary to pass along. The lawyer for john dean equate watergate figure, he was the person to tell john dean to tell the truth. He passed away in his home, he was 82. Mr. Shafer served as a Justice Department lawyer during the kennedy and johnson administrations, and the staff m member that investigated john f. Kennedy. During his tenure as john deans lawyer, he told him to come clean on everything. John dean, of course famously warning the president that there was a cancer growing closely to the presidency. His obituary this morning inside the Washington Post to. Caller good morning. Im thinking the best example of compulsive voting is from the president himself. When he was a u. S. Senator he voted presideent. I think that is a great example for compulsior mandatory voting. Host teresa, you are on the air. Caller hi, i think we should have mandatory voting. In north carolina, when you get your drivers license, they may it very easy to register to vote. I dont know about the electoral college. I think we have technology now for popular vote. Theres a lot of things that should be changed. I think our forefathers set and evolving document for an evolving democracy. Host thanks for the call. This is a piece saying, how do you solve a problem like ben carson . Can mainstream republican stop him if they try . Linda is joining his next from norman oklahoma. Our line for independents. Good morning. Caller i think we should have mandatory registration. And broad Elective Options like a couple weekends before elections. Not mandatory voting. Host why is that . Caller i think voting is a privilege and should be elected. Mandatory registration is an obligation. Host how often do you vote when it comes to congressional elections, statewide races, or president ial elections . Caller every election i can. Ive vote by absentee because im blind. Host thank you very much for the call. Friday evening, we covered former governor Martin Omalley. There is this story on Martin Omalley the quintessential American Dream is not dead. Omalley appears dead saidet to deliver how he thinks the country can be improved. Universal prekindergarten programs, and a growing Social Security program until we solve this, we cannot rest as a party or people. His address aired live on cspan. That is part of all of our road to the white house coverage. Should the u. S. Require mandatory voting . That is our question. We will go next to nancy from texas. Caller first of all, i have to say a few comments about what has been said. One, we are not a democracy. We were established as a republic. The like twhirl college, if they got rid of that, all the candidates would care about is the most populous state. They would forget about everything else, own only focus on the most populous parts of the country. No, voting should it be mandatory. Most of the American People these days, sadly enough, just listen to what the talking heads tell them in the mass media. We dont have this in the peanut independent media like we had when i was growing up. Its all bought up. People arent researching on their own. So no, we dont need mandatory voting. We need people who have studied the issues and the facts, and not just listening to what the candidates are saying. Often they stretch the truth. You have to go and investigate and say, that is not what you did. That is not reality. Thats my opinion. Host thank you for the call. If youre listening to cspan radio, we welcome your calls as well. 202 7488000 for democrats. 202 7488001 for republicans. This morning, a front page unstated factor in iran talks threat of nuclear tampering. Secretary of state carrey was in switzerland yesterday. He is excited back in switzerland later this week. The deadline for an agreement at least a political agreement is later this month. The details would be hammered out over the next couple of months. We of a segment coming up looking more at what is happening with the u. S. And a iran. We will go next to mark from huntsville, alabama. Caller two quick points. I dont think it should be mandatory. Too real quick points. First of all, if you dont believe in your parties politics, and the policies, who are you supposed to vote for . Second of all, if they dont make it a mandatory holiday whats going to happ