Make voting compulsory
Bubble — By Marcus Warner on August 24, 2010 7:00 am
Turnout figures in Australian elections are substantially higher than here in the UK
IT IS INTERESTING that with the world focusing on the Australian elections, the fact that the country has compulsory voting is almost reported as an afterthought. Not that in the UK we don’t have this debate periodically. Often it starts with a think tank or political group kite flying the idea, we get some arguments for and against, and then it is put back in its box.
Instinctively – but perhaps not rationally – I have been a supporter of compulsory voting. Anyone involved in political campaigning has ‘get our vote out’ drummed into them. I always wondered whether we could all focus on the issues, rather than what is essentially cattle herding of people into polling booths, or increasingly postal voting.
David Taylor was quoted in the Western Mail as saying (in regard to compulsory voting);
“In Australia they are solely focused on persuading people that they are better than the alternatives.”
I happen to agree with that principle and surely we would want this from our politics?
In the mad rush to deliver the ‘core vote’ – which, let’s be honest, resides in a seemingly terminally decreasing cohort of society – are we perhaps losing the ability to campaign on things that matter? Many parties’ intellectual bandwidth is being made stodgy by this nearly solely administrative endeavor.
To make matters worse, a fraction of the voting public decides general elections. It is now widely reported that less than 500,000 swing voters decide elections. The Electoral Reform Society reported that 24 out of the 40 seats in Wales are so safe that they are foregone conclusions. The AV system simply does not rectify this situation. Of course there is a different system for the National Assembly elections, but the problem of lower turnout is even more acute.
The system of voting aside, compulsory voting is an attractive proposition. While it is no panacea, and certainly not a solution to the underlying problems of public disengagement, it does alter the context of elections. It is my view that many people would view voting as a public duty, it would remind a young generation of that fact. The international experience is one of this gentle cultural shift being far more important than the technically possible sanction of jail for not voting.
The arguments around Governments’ legitimacy rage. How many times has WalesHome debated the referendum and the issue of turnout has come up? If turnout is massively important, a debate within itself, then surely compulsory voting would be an option?
A good deal of my friends are young and poor, or what is probably known as ‘people who don’t vote’ in political circles. I very much doubt ‘Mondeo Man’ is a working class 19 year old from Pontypool. Might we improve their value and worth by enfranchising them through compulsory voting? Again I am not saying it is a silver bullet, but a gentle tweak of our democracy. That teenager who flipped David Cameron the bird will now be a target voter like Andy who works in IT in Cardiff North.
There can be no doubt that the reasons for opposing compulsory voting are numerous, well documented and totally reasonable. The issue of ‘donkey voting’, the issues around the right to abstain, the potential for politics to be reduced to mushy consensus to appeal to everybody and nobody at the same time and issues around personal liberty are worthy.
But at a time where we have competing voting systems at different layers of elections, a time of electoral reform at Westminster being voted on and at a time of wide democratic upheaval across the British piste; might we at least consider the benefits of compulsory voting.
This article is not a dogmatic attempt to call for compulsory voting. It is a gentle prod in the direction of considering the possibility. Deliberately it has avoided drilling down into the exact detail of sanctions for non-compliance, the ‘none of the above’ option and the different international examples of compulsory voting.
It seems we are at an apex in Wales of historic democratic reform and we must be willing to discuss all options and all elements of that reform. In that spirit, compulsory voting must be given a good airing.
Tags: Australian election, campaigning, compulsory voting, voting
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62 Comments
Very interesting piece and discussion, I just wanted to add some thoughts and observations. Compulsory voting does intuitively feel wrong as many have already pointed out the right to vote should come with a right not to. The work ahead really is to re-energise the electorate, make it easier to register and easier to vote. Electronic voting booths in Tescos would be a good step on the way. It would also address some of the awful access issues some polling stations have.
Not voting can be a clear political statement, a cry of a plague on all your houses (if you’ll accept the crude paraphrasing), but it can also mean that it’s too rainy/cold/ or Eastenders is on. Anyone who’s ever been door to door on election day must have heard that!
If the answer is to motivate voters to turn up at the booths, does this fall to the parties or to the state? I only ask this as it may not be in the parties interest to move from the predictable status quo to a far more random process. You have at least some control of your core vote than you do the wider electorate.
If the continuing low turn out is a reflection on the main parties inability to engage with voters there is a real risk people will turn to extremist parties and campaigns for solutions. The fight against the BNP in London during the GE showed what can be done across the political spectrum to engage with the electorate, even if the main argument was don’t vote for him rather than vote for me. Most importantly people across the spectrum realised that they needed to get out on the streets knock doors and talk to people.
Only if everyone had to pass a test, like who is your local MP? What party does he or she stand for? Who is the Prime Minister? Name one policy of the parties standing.
Most people on the street if asked could not answer these questions. Where I come from everyone votes Labour, because grandad voted Labour and dad voted Labour – great reason. These people should be banned from voting. Compulsary, yes. But you must have a brain cell.
But you must have a brain cell.
I’d go along with restricting the right to vote and indeed to stand in an election to people with three-digit IQs. Preferably 120+
Thank you for an interesting article.
I have had the pleasure of living in a country where voting is indeed compulsory, and I have to say, I didn’t agree with it. Does compulsory voting not dumb down the process, and perhaps skew the result?
I have a strange conviction that the British people tend not to vote against things. Rather, they brave the elements and go out and vote for things they want to vote FOR. Making them go to the polls may well have the effect of forcing them to tick any old box, or just scribbling on the ballot. Is this good? I don’t think so.
Making voting compulsory is a great way for politicians to cover their inadequacy. When less than a third of the nation votes in an election, irrespective of the result, that is not a ringing endorsement, and the politicians ought to review what they are offering. In more parochial terms, if my brand of washing powder sells 10 boxes, and yours sells only five, that is not a ringing endorsement of the quality of my product – or indeed yours. Having a box to tick for ‘none of the buggers’ misses the point – politicians should inspire people to make them want to vote. Forcing them to vote says more about the politicians than the people….
This whole thing of compulsory voting is quite the red herring. First Australia has had it since 1924, therefore it’s acceptable, secondly it is reported that they have the highest incidence of spoil ballots, and third people vote they way their parents have. Therefore a high incidence of traditional voters. You still have voter apathy, and it could include drawing pictures of Skippy the bush kangaroo! In the US voter turnout has gone up slightly (61%) and the lowest it got was 49% in 1996. However a new phenomenon has appeared. The independent voter, for the first time they are the largest single group, and decided the 2008 election for Obama and possibly the 2010 for the Republicans. These are voters who are not tied by traditional loyalties, and will make informed choices when they vote. I would rather have few voters who think about their vote, than a whole horde of drones who will put there mark because they always have, and cannot change. I am afraid compulsory voting will just provide with a stagnated democracy.
Mr Williams is not very happy when he writes …
… “Where I come from everyone votes Labour, because grandad voted Labour and dad voted Labour – great reason. These people should be banned from voting.”
… and Mr Dyda joins with …
… “I’d go along with restricting the right to vote and indeed to stand in an election to people with three-digit IQs. Preferably 120+”
… it all smacks of playground bullying, why not go the whole hog and include the poor, the promiscuous,the Friday night binge drinkers, you might like to include ginger hair, tattoos and those that play golf …
Fortunately we live in the UK, a country that despises such excesses.
…and Mr Dyda joins with…
…his tongue in his cheek.
Yeah, how anyone could read anything other than Simon having a bit fun is beyond me. It made me laugh too.
Yeah, how anyone could read anything other than Simon having a bit fun is beyond me. It made me laugh too.
… obviously I am a little more sensitive to issues of democracy.
John, you should get into Dydaism. Don’t fight it.
“… obviously I am a little more sensitive to issues of democracy.”
You are a member of True Wales FFS – do you have any self awareness?
You called post election discussions ‘rape and pillage’ – do you have any self awareness?
You could be right Duncan…