I have noticed that none of the contributors to a recent MPSIMS thread, Compulsory voting in Australia and Belgium*, support compulsory voting. I think that most Australians do. Certainly, there is more support than opposition when the subject is raised in the press. As usual, I hold the minority view.
There was some support for compulsory voting in a GD thread from last year: Voting: A right or responsibility?*, but only a little.
As far as I can tell, the reasons given in Australia for making voting compulsory are that [ul][li]voting is so important, and a hard fought right, that it would be wrong not to exercise that right; []if voting is optional, people will be bribed to vote (I’m not sure how serious this argument is, since voting is by secret ballot);[]with voluntary voting, fanatical voters and special interest groups will have too great an impact, and[] (similar to the first, and to counter the point that actual voting is not compulsory) it is moral weakness not to make a decision for one candidate[/ul][/li]The opposing views are that[ul][li]forcing people to vote (all right, turn up to the polling booth) does not encourage intelligent voting, and []an enforced ‘right’ is not a right.[/ul][/li]The main justification of success that I have seen is voter turnout (turnouts from 50% to 78% before compulsion and 91% immediately after it was introduced in 1924*. There has been no argument or evidence for how this has produced a more rational approach to voting among the electorate.
The behaviour of people at the polling booths (‘Who do I vote for?’ etc), the very existence of ‘how to vote’ pamphlets being distributed at booths, and the advertising campaigns based on fear and greed, provide evidence in support of the first opposing argument. On the other hand, the existence of poorly informed voters also supports the argument that voluntary voting produces superficial campaigns (as in many U.S. elections, where more attempts seem to be made to whip up enthusiasm, and thus, a vote, than to stimulate careful thought).
Interestingly, while voting is compulsory in Australian state and federal elections and this is supported resolutely by the political parties, these same parties do not have compulsory voting for the preselection ballots.
Also, I believe that most Australians do not know that they can legally return an empty ballot paper, or that they do not have to number every square (we have preferential voting) for the vote to be valid (see Australian Electoral Commission) But we don’t have to cope with chads!
*(I am having trouble with links, so I will give them in the next post)