How Compulsory Voting Subverts Democracy

“In a true democracy voting is not compulsory." writes Peter Barry

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Comments

[Prue]

1.

Corrections: our voter turnout is lucky to break 80%,
Only about 10 countries enforce compulsory voting
Comp voting does affect results by favouring the left
That we can submit invalid votes does not stop people from submitting donkey votes or guessing
I'm not sure this very long article was pro voluntary voting

[John Mc]

2.

Voting, to me, is a right, and not voting should never be a crime. The state is our servant and not our master, and to me compulsory voting ranks alongside compulsory identity cards.

David Cameron in 2006, eh? How quickly politicians forget why they went there once they get there.

[Brian_R_Allen]

3.

.... compulsory voting ranks alongside compulsory identity cards ....

True.

Little wonder then that ruled by its 'Fourth Branch of Government (the permanent "public 'service'") Become Its First:' Australia; (whose population is also the world's most-surveilled) has both. Its compulsory identity cards, albeit insidiously and by authoritarian-regulatory-bureaucratic stealth, in the form of "Enhanced Taxation File Numbers.

[AlterEgo]

4.

Corrections: our voter turnout is lucky to break 80%

Things are not that bad Prue!

The AEC website says turnout was 88.14%.

Imagine for a moment that voting was not compulsory at the just gone election.

The media blitz saying Tony Abbott was a shoe-in may well have stopped a large number of people bothering to go and vote for him.

Could end up like in Yeats 1919 poem -

"The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity."

[Anton]

5.

Perhaps it could be taken a bit further:

Voluntary voting, with a minimum quota for anyone to be elected. If none of the politicians in an electorate are interesting enough nobody gets elected.

Surely nobody still believes their "local member" ever represents them now anyway

[John Mc]

6.

Is that 88% of registered voters? Knowing the AECs prior form I'll assume that's what it is.

So if you take voters who are not on the electoral roll, which is around 10% of the eligible population (as a conservative estimate), and those who deliberately spoil their ballot which is around 5%, you've got an actual turnout around 73%. That's typical of comparable western nations with voluntary voting, and they're voting for candidates who actually had to high enough quality to get people to come out on the day.