When it comes to democracy, the only thing worse than not letting citizens vote is forcing them to cast a ballot.

Making the rounds in the Washington Capitol is legislation that would require all citizens to vote.

It is a bad idea — as bad as any of the half-baked ideas that have been concocted in those halls.

Yet four Democrats on the Senate’s State Government and Elections Committee voted for the bill, Senate Bill 5209, while three Republicans voted against it.

While it is easy to understand the goal of increasing voter turnout, this isn’t the way to do it. In fact, it is the exact opposite of how to do it.

In the United States of America, there’s this thing called freedom. It is a concept that has been around since before the nation even existed. According to the Declaration of Independence, people are “endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

Add to that the right to be left alone. Americans by nature are independent operators, and Washingtonians are no different.

It may be a surprise to the political crowd in Olympia, Seattle and elsewhere, but most folks don’t give two hoots or a holler what the politicians excrete from the Capitol — as long it doesn’t cost them more money or needlessly harass them.

If Washington’s lawmakers wanted to get more people excited about the games they play in Olympia, they could do one thing.

They could quit trying to micromanage Washingtonians. Sure, lots of people live in Seattle and Tacoma. But at last count, there are about 7.7 million folks all around the state. The politicians need to figure out that what works in the Puget Sound region is unlikely to work in Twisp or Toppenish or any other rural area. Odds are, it’ll hurt more that it helps.

One example: Legislators forced farmers and orchardists to pay overtime. Their thinking was that it’s the right thing to do.

Except farmers and orchardist warned that the reality of overtime would be fewer hours for farmworkers.

And some farmers and orchardists — particularly those with smaller operations — would either go broke or quit.

As it turned out, the “right thing to do” is more like the wrong thing for farmers, orchardists — and farmworkers, who have lost hours as their employers struggled to pay the bills.

Other examples have proliferated. Like when the legislature started extracting payments from companies that produce “pollutants” like carbon dioxide, a compound we all produce every time we take a breath and that helps plants grow.

The result has been the state treasury has swelled by more than $1.5 billion and drivers of cars, trucks, tractors and other diesel- and gas-powered equipment have seen fuel prices skyrocket by upward of $1 a gallon.

Good job!

And many legislators act as though they are blessing Washingtonians with their wisdom and good wishes.

Now they want to make Washingtonians vote as a way of showing how much they are beloved by the “little people.”

Until legislators figure out that they work for all of the people — and not just their friends and those who contribute to their campaigns — many Washingtonians will happily steer clear of them.

Voting should be an action to be cherished as a way to form a government of the people, by the people and for the people.

It should never be a chore to be forced on the electorate as a way to the feed the self-aggrandizement of a few politicians.