Here's something old and stale to add to the debate:
I don't want everyone to vote. That would be a bad thing . The fewer people who vote, the more my vote will count. And my vote may be quite a bit better informed than certain other votes.
East Carolina University has been trying hard to get more college students to vote -- bribing them with candy and buttons. Why do they want them to vote? Not because the students are interested and informed. If they were interested, there would be no need to bribe them. Surely I can make a better decision than an uninterested college student.
I also think I have better judgment than many long-time voters I know.
I may be biased -- but there's a good chance I'm also right. It's certainly hard to argue that working hard to get Every idiot to vote will help our country in the long run. Even if only 50% of the eligible voters actually vote, that does not imply that it is in my interest to get the other 50% to vote. It does imply that my vote is worth twice as much as it could be.
So who will larger voter participation benefit? Not I.
I can only hope that it is the stupidest 50% that is forgoing the vote, and not the smartest.