Compulsory Voting _ Voter Turnout _ International IDEA -...

8/30/13 Compulsory Voting | Voter Turnout | International IDEA
www.idea.int/vt/compulsory_voting.cfm 1/5
See also the publications Voter Turnout Since 1945: A Global Report and Voter
Turnout in Western Europe since 1945: A Regional Report , which are based on the
data in this database.
Compulsory Voting
What is compulsory voting?
Most democratic governments consider participating in national elections a right
of citizenship. Some consider that participation at elections is also a citizen's civic
responsibility. In some countries, where voting is considered a duty, voting at
elections has been made compulsory and has been regulated in the national
constitutions and electoral laws. Some countries go as far as to impose sanctions
on non-voters.
Compulsory voting is not a new concept. Some of the first countries that
introduced mandatory voting laws were Belgium in 1892, Argentina in 1914
and Australia in 1924. There are also examples of countries such as Venezuela
and the Netherlands which at one time in their history practiced compulsory
voting but have since abolished it.
Advocates of compulsory voting argue that decisions made by democratically
elected governments are more legitimate when higher proportions of the
population participate. They argue further that voting, voluntarily or otherwise,
has an educational effect upon the citizens. Political parties can derive financial
benefits from compulsory voting, since they do not have to spend resources
convincing the electorate that it should in general turn out to vote. Lastly, if
democracy is government by the people, presumably this includes all people, then
it is every citizen's responsibility to elect their representatives.
The leading argument against compulsory voting is that it is not consistent with
the freedom associated with democracy. Voting is not an intrinsic obligation and
the enforcement of the law would be an infringement of the citizens' freedom
associated with democratic elections. It may discourage the political education of
the electorate because people forced to participate will react against the
perceived source of oppression. Is a government really more legitimate if the high
voter turnout is against the will of the voters? Many countries with limited
financial capacity may not be able to justify the expenditures of maintaining and
enforcing compulsory voting laws. It has been proved that forcing the population
to vote results in an increased number of invalid and blank votes compared to
countries that have no compulsory voting laws.