This idea is not new. The first country to implement compulsory voting was Belgium in Since then, countries have been adapting and iterating this system in myriad ways—particularly in the area of enforcement. In some, nonvoters are fined. In others, the sanctions are more severe like holds on salary or voter disenfranchisement. Stricter yet are the countries who employ both. Then there are democracies where mandatory voting is legal but not enforced, or where sanctions are not delivered consistently.
Though the concept is not new, it is far from perfect and far from agreed upon. In a democracy, the government is meant to represent the will of its constituents. Proponents say that compulsory voting, which mandates that each eligible person cast a vote, is the best way to derive a truly representative government. With mandatory voting, more time and energy can be spent focusing on issues that matter most to the electorate while fewer resources are spent convincing people to exercise their right to vote.
Advocates also hope that if everyone is required to vote, people will educate themselves on candidates and their policies. There is a reason—several, in fact—that not every democratic government including the United States has adopted compulsory voting. One of the biggest arguments against mandatory voting is the inherent contradiction to democracy in forcing people to vote.
Abstention, for some, is an important right. Another major consideration is the increased risk of donkey votes , when the voter ranks each candidate in the order that they have appeared on the ballot paper or apathetic votes from people who are uninformed and are only there to fulfill a civic duty.
An illustration of that point is in Rio de Janeiro, where This trend was observed throughout Brazil, the largest country that implements a compulsory voting system. Stacker used the CIA World Factbook to compile a list of the 22 countries which require eligible citizens to vote. Historically, nearly one-third fewer U.
However, 22 nations around the world make voting mandatory for its citizens, often starting at age 18, according to the CIA World Factbook. Several of these countries are in Latin America with a handful allowing citizens to age out of compulsory voting by as early as age Follow LauraSanthanam.
Support Provided By: Learn more. In Bolivia, public services such as withdrawing funds from a bank can be frozen if an individual does not show proof of voting during a three-month period following a national election.
Note: Here are the questions used for this analysis, along with responses, and its methodology. In times of uncertainty, good decisions demand good data.
Please support our research with a financial contribution. It organizes the public into nine distinct groups, based on an analysis of their attitudes and values.
Even in a polarized era, the survey reveals deep divisions in both partisan coalitions. Pew Research Center now uses as the last birth year for Millennials in our work. President Michael Dimock explains why. The vast majority of U. Use this tool to compare the groups on some key topics and their demographics.
About Pew Research Center Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. 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 , Argentina in and Australia in 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.
Another consequence of mandatory voting is the possible high number of "random votes". Voters who are voting against their free will may check off a candidate at random, particularly the top candidate on the ballot. The voter does not care whom they vote for as long as the government is satisfied that they fulfilled their civic duty.
What effect does this immeasurable category of random votes have on the legitimacy of the democratically elected government? A figure depicting the exact number of countries that practice compulsory voting is quite arbitrary. The simple presence or absence of mandatory voting laws in a constitution is far too simplistic. It is more constructive to analyse compulsory voting as a spectrum ranging from a symbolic, but basically impotent, law to a government which systematic follow-up of each non-voting citizen and implement sanctions against them.
This spectrum implies that some countries formally have compulsory voting laws but do not, and have no intention to, enforce them. There are a variety of possible reasons for this.
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