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. 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.
Not all laws
are created to be enforced. Some laws are created to merely state the
government's position regarding what the citizen's responsibility should be.
Mandatory voting laws that do not include sanctions may fall into this
category. Although a government may not enforce mandatory voting laws or even
have formal sanctions in law for failing to vote, the law may have some effect
upon the citizens. For example, in Austria voting is compulsory in only two
regions, with sanctions being weakly enforced. However, these regions tend to
have a higher turnout average than the national average. Other possible reasons
for not enforcing the laws could be complexity and resources required for
enforcement. Countries with limited budgets may not place the enforcement of
mandatory voting laws as a high priority still they hope that the presence of
the law will encourage the citizens to participate. Can a country be considered
to practice compulsory voting if the mandatory voting laws are ignored and
irrelevant to the voting habits of the electorate? Is a country practicing
compulsory voting if there are no penalties for not voting? What if there are penalties
for failing to vote but they are never or are scarcely enforced? Or if the
penalty is negligible? Many countries offer loopholes, intentionally and
otherwise, which allow non-voters to go unpunished. For example, in many
countries it is required to vote only if you are a registered voter, but it is
not compulsory to register. People might then have incentives not to register.
In many cases, like Australia, an acceptable excuse for absence on Election Day
will avoid sanctions. The diverse forms compulsory voting has taken in
different countries refocuses the perception of it away from an either present
or absent practice of countries to a study of the degree and manner in which
the government forces its citizens to participate.
WHICH
COUNTRIES PRACTICE COMPULSORY VOTING?
Laws,
Sanctions & Enforcement Below
is a table containing all the countries that have a law that provides for
compulsory voting. The first column lists the name of the country, the second
column the type of sanctions that the relevant country imposes against
non-voters and the third column contains the information on to what extent the
compulsory voting laws are enforced in practice.
Country Type of Sanction(*) Enforced Year
Introduced Comments
Argentina 1,
2, 4 Yes 1912
Voluntary for those between 16 and 18 years of age.
Australia 1,
2 Yes 1924
Austria
(Tyrol) 1, 2 Yes Practiced
from 1929 to 2004 The region of Tyrol.
Austria
(Vorarlberg) 2, 3 Yes Practiced
from 1929 to 1992 The region of
Vorarlberg.
Austria
(Styria) N/A Yes Practiced
from 1929 to 1992 The region of Styria.
Belgium 1, 2, 4, 5
Yes 1892 (men); 1949 (women)
Bolivia 1, 2, 4
Yes 1952 Not enforced for those who are over 70 years
old, who prove they have been absent from the national territory at the time of
voting by a moment of voting, and those who could not vote by force majeure.
Brazil 1, 2, 4, 5 Yes 1932 Voluntary for the illiterate, those over 16
and under 18 years of age, and those over 70 years of age.
Bulgaria None No 2016
Chile 1, 2, 3
Yes Practiced from 1925 to 2012
Congo,
Democratic Republic of the N/A N/A N/A
Costa Rica None No
1959 Although the
electoral legislation formally provides for the obligation of suffrage, it is
generally understood as a civic duty, without legal sanctions for
non-compliance.
Cyprus 1, 2
Yes Practiced from
1960 to 2017
Dominican
Republic None No Practiced
till 2010
Ecuador 1, 2 Yes 1947 for men, 1968 for both sexes Voluntary for those between 16 and 18 years
of age, those over 65 years of age, Ecuadorians who are members of the Armed
Forces and National Police, those with disabilities and those who live abroad.
Egypt 1, 2 No 1956
Fiji 1, 2, 3
Yes Practiced from 1992 to 2006
France
(Senate only) 2 No 1950's
or 60's
Gabon N/A
No N/A
Greece None No 1926 Administrative
sanctions, including prohibition to issue a passport, a driving license or an
occupational license, were officially lifted in year 2000.
Guatemala None No N/A Guatemala
abandoned compulsory voting in 1990.
Honduras None No N/A
Italy 5 No Practised from 1945 to 1993
Lebanon N/A N/A N/A 21
years of age; compulsory for all males; authorized for women at age 21 with
elementary education; excludes military personnel.
Liechtenstein
1, 2
Yes N/A
Luxembourg 1, 2 Yes N/A Voluntary
for those over 70.
Mexico None No
1857
Nauru 1, 2
Yes 1965
Netherlands No Practised
from 1917 to 1967
Panama None No N/A
Paraguay 2 No N/A Voluntary
for those over 75 years of age.
Peru 1, 2, 4
Yes 1933 Voluntary for those over 75 years of age.
Philippines None No
Attempt to practice 1972-1986 under martial law.
Spain N/A No Practiced from 1907 to 1923
Singapore 2, 4
Yes N/A The non-voter is removed from the voter
register until he/she reapplies and provides a reason. Fee applies only if the
voter does not have valid reason for not voting. The non-voter is also disqualified
from being a candidate at any subsequent Presidential or Parliamentary
election.
Switzerland
(Schaffhausen) 2 Yes 1904 Practised in only one canton. Abolished in
other cantons in 1974.
Thailand None No N/A
Turkey 1, 2 Yes N/A
Uruguay 1, 2, 4
Yes 1934 Compulsory voting was
not in practiced until 1970
U.S.A
(Georgia) N/A No Stated
in 1777 Constitution of Georgia.
Venezuela 4 Yes Practiced from 1958 to 1993 Venezuela
abandoned compulsory voting in 1993. A provision in the Constitution describing
voting as a duty remained until 1999. The elimination of legal sanctions from
1993 on, however, marks that year as the end of compulsory voting.
(*) The numbers
listed in the column for Type of Sanction stands for different types of
sanctions. These are as follows:
1. Explanation.
The non-voter has to provide a legitimate reason for his/her abstention to
avoid further sanctions, if any exist.
2. Fine. The
non-voter faces a fine sanction. The amount varies among the countries, for
example AU$20-$AU50 in Australia, from $50 to $500 pesos in Argentina.
3. Possible
imprisonment. The non-voter may face imprisonment as a sanction, however, we do
not know of any documented cases. This can also happen in countries such as
Australia where a fine sanction is common. In cases where the non-voter does
not pay the fine after being reminded or after refusing several times, the
courts may impose a prison sentence. This is usually classified as imprisonment
for failure to pay the fine, not imprisonment for failure to vote.
4.
Infringements of civil rights or disenfranchisement. It is, for example,
possible that the non-voter, after not voting in at least four elections within
15 years will be disenfranchised in Belgium. In Peru the voter has to carry a
stamped voting card for a number of months after the election as proof of
having voted. This stamp is required in order to obtain some services and goods
from some public offices. In Singapore the voter is removed from the voter
register until he/she reapplies to be included and submits a legitimate reason
for not having voted. In Bolivia the voter is given a card when he/she has
voted so that he/she can proof the participation. The voter would not be able
to receive his/her salary from a bank if he/she cannot show the proof of voting
during three months after the election.
5. Other. For
example, in Belgium it might be difficult to get a job within the public sector
if you are non-voter. There are no formal sanctions in Mexico or Italy but
possible arbitrary or social sanctions. This is called the "innocuous
sanction" in Italy, where it might for example be difficult to secure day
care placement for your child or a similar service, but this is not formalised.
https://www.idea.int/data-tools/data/voter-turnout/compulsory-voting
