Should we make voting compulsory?

Mike Ion Mon Jan 21, 2008 at 09:11:02 AM GMT Print-friendly version Facebook

The term 'compulsory voting' is a bit of a misnomer, it really is about compulsory casting of ballots (pedantic I know but important nonetheless).



Personally I am quite attracted by the idea, mainly because:

1. It can help improve turnout
2. It leaves parties free to campaign on policies, rather than focusing huge efforts on 'getting out the vote'. It can also reduce the impact of better finance campaigns and reduce the incidents of negative campaigning.
3. It can help create/enhance a sense of community, as everyone is in it together. It is also a means of reducing social exclusion where those that don't vote end up without any policies geared towards them.

I know that there are also many reasons why we shouldn't make voting compulsory but I do think we need to have the debate nationally, indeed can we afford not to?

What do others think?

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Should we make voting compulsory? | 15 comments (15 topical)

Re: Should we make voting compulsory? (#1)

by Radford Mann on Mon Jan 21, 2008 at 11:00:06 AM GMT

Yes, I agree that voting should be compulsory. However, first of all we have to get our bone idle Council officers to ensure that everyone carries out their existing legal duty to register to vote first.


Re: Should we make voting compulsory? (#2)

by matt1986 on Mon Jan 21, 2008 at 03:53:27 PM GMT

I have really mixed feelings about compulsory voting, and could probably be persuaded either way on it.


Ideally, I think voting should be a right and not a duty, and i'd prefer turnout to be high because everyone decided to exercise that right, not because they were forced to. I'd like to think that everyone would vote if only they felt parties were responsive to them. In this sense, all that would be needed is for parties to start becoming attractive to those who aren't voting. If voting is compulsory, parties might have fewer incentives to reach out to these people. I also think that there are other measures that could be taken first. Turnout is often low because elections aren't seen as competitive, so perhaps changing how we elect our representatives could be tried first, although it's hard as Labour members to suggest this, as at the moment we benefit from the current system.


However, this might all be a bit optimistic. Turnout might still remain low. Compulsory voting might at least remind people that, ultimately, they are in charge.


Re: Should we make voting compulsory? (#12)

by wgm on Thu Jan 24, 2008 at 03:09:58 PM GMT

Yes. We all have to obey laws and pay taxes as part of our contract with the state and society. Everyone should consider who it is that makes laws and runs civic society, either making a choice to vote for someone or register an abstension (the right not to vote thus fulfilled).

It works in countries like Australia and would give any government far more legitimacy than those elected with 35% of the vote.


[ Parent ]

Re: Should we make voting compulsory? (#3)

by rwendland on Mon Jan 21, 2008 at 05:08:42 PM GMT

No, it would be a nightmare of exemptions. Elderly people who cannot get there, mentally ill people, working away or ill that day, ... Better to go with a small incentive if necessary, like a voucher for council services like the sports centre/swimming pool.

Anyway, I'd rather people who voted gave some thought to it, rather than going under duress and perhaps voting randomly. 


Re: Should we make voting compulsory? (#4)

by jkitleft on Mon Jan 21, 2008 at 06:32:34 PM GMT

It is a right not a duty. My grandfather fought in the Battle of al-Amein to stop the Fascists from establishing their very own kind of caliphate across North Africa. Ultimately, these battles were for the right of democracy for our citizens, perhaps not obstensibly, but rather it appeared this way later. The vote is essential for a democratic way of life, but I will leave you with the words of a Polish dissident, who I will try and find the name of, and if anyone can find the name of this dissident, I will be grateful: "One of the rights we were fighting for, was the right not to vote" or words like that.


Re: Should we make voting compulsory? (#5)

by jljb2 on Mon Jan 21, 2008 at 08:36:17 PM GMT

YES! There is a valid argument that politics should be a free market i.e. the problem is that parties aren't in touch. However, parties have no incentive to be in touch under the current system, as it focuses on a tiny minority of middle-class floating voters in key seats. Compulsory voting would force parties to consider the needs of the marginalised - largely the poor - who vote far less and in a more partisan manner. Therefore it would probably play a huge role in shifting the centre ground leftwards. Coupled with AV which would get rid of a great many wasted votes, compulsory voting could break the stranglehold of the centre on British politics.


Re: Should we make voting compulsory? (#6)

by spiderlounge on Tue Jan 22, 2008 at 03:03:31 AM GMT

well first of all, just so you can get some idea of the backgroud that informs my analysis, I should say I'm a Conservative Borough Councillor, but I'll try to be as objective as possible...

 I think as far as the Labour party is concerned compulsory voting is in my view both a short-term blessing and a long-term curse.

There is no doubt that if everyone was pushed up against a wall and forced to vote, this would help the Labour party more than anyone else. It's not that I think Labour are any more popular, simply that many of the people who tend towards you are less enthusiastic about your ability, given the constraints of democratic political calculation, to fulfill the promises you make in terms of social justice.

 HOWEVER, once it became clear that you had significantly gained from a change which you would have introduced, this would create a significant backlash on the basis that many people believe politicians try to gain the maximum advantage by underhand means, this was an advantage to you therefore you must have been underhand in seeking it and justifying it in the first place...


Re: Should we make voting compulsory? (#7)

by TonyH on Tue Jan 22, 2008 at 10:38:25 AM GMT

Interesting that a Conservative evisages compulsory voting might be implemented by pushing people against a wall and forcing them to vote.

;-)  A cheap swipe but at least I didn't pretend to try to be objective before I wrote it.

I could be persuaded on compulsory voting too but I think right now that it would only cover up a sympton of political dissatisfaction rather than cure it.

I don't want politicians to reach out inexorably to those who refuse to give a damn about the world around them - surely non-voters must come some of the way too.

It is their right not to bother if they don't want to.

Wouldn't it be far better to realise that the tools of engagement we have now aren't working or are working against all Parties?

Why don't all parties look at their insufferable pre-occupation with partisan newspaper columnists, two minute interview slots, shamelessly propagandistic leaflets, opposition for opposition's sake, squabbling over details that nobody understands, political point scoring, adherence to dogma or idealogy before common sense and exchanging statistical flummery on crime and health and spending?
 
All of this crap puts me off - so what do you think it does to already disinterested voters?


[ Parent ]

Re: Should we make voting compulsory? (#8)

by treborc on Wed Jan 23, 2008 at 08:00:03 AM GMT

I will vote when Labour returns to being a Labour party.


Re: Should we make voting compulsory? (#9)

by Curlew on Wed Jan 23, 2008 at 09:55:46 AM GMT

Include a box for None of the Above and it will be an interesting exercise.


Re: Should we make voting compulsory? (#10)

by NorthernMonkey on Thu Jan 24, 2008 at 04:47:03 AM GMT

Could never agree to compulsory voting. The right not to vote is as important as the right to vote.


Re: Should we make voting compulsory? (#11)

by champagnesocialist on Thu Jan 24, 2008 at 02:34:04 PM GMT

I agree - as someone else said above this is treating a symptom of the the current system's problems not the cause.

There would also be  a requirement for a whole lot of extra state bureaucracy to ensure that first of all everyone registered and then everyone voted followed by chasing up the people who didnt vote to check if they had a valid excuse then issuing fines/ undertaking further investigations if they didnt resulting presumably in the cases being heard in court. These I imagine would most hit those at the bottom of society who could least afford it and it would be very expensive to enforce - I wouldnt have thought a Home Secretary would want to go about explaining to the Commons that the Police were unable to investigate a terrorist cell because they were enforcing electoral law.

From speaking to Australian friends (where polling is compulsory on pain of fine) it seems lots of people go into the polling station and deliberately ruin their ballot paper - drawing another box at the bottom and voting for your cat for example.

From a party political point of view I think compulsory voting would bring further advantage to people with surnames beginning with A as surely if people dont know much about voting but are forced to do it they will more than likely vote for the first person on the list.

 

There is an interesting item on one person's attempts to escape voting in Victoria, Australia at http://www.mind-trek.com/writ-dtf/votehoax/_tgvh03.htm - just imagine the cost of administration for cahsing him up 


[ Parent ]

Re: Should we make voting compulsory? (#13)

by alexhilton on Thu Jan 24, 2008 at 07:30:13 PM GMT

It has been said that people who don't vote get the politicians they deserve. Sadly, with lower turnouts, people who do vote are saddled with the politicians deserved by the apathetic.

If we went to a form or PR, compulsory voting would confer a slight security. It can be presumed from anecdotal confersations that there is an environmentalist streak, which would garner support at election tim. However, there seem to a similar proportion of potential green voters who don't vote as those who do - perhaps even more.

Conversely, local council seats where the BNP do well are nearly all in very low turnout wards, indicating that there is an absolute ceiling on the number of people who could stomach voting for such scum.

My theaory is that, while there are concerns that PR would open the door to Racist parties, they would in fact be stuffed if we simultaneously instituted compulsory voting.

There is another reason why I believe compulsory voting should be compulsory. Voting should be a responsibility, not a right. And I don't mean a responsibility to the state, I mean a responsibility to your community; to those who are too young to vote, to those who lack capacity, to those who are here as refugees - and a responsibility to all who are vulnerable even if they can vote themselves.

"Who will do most for me" should not be foremost in your mind when contemplating who to support and we need to find ways to move beyond that narrow-minded outlook.


Re: Should we make voting compulsory? (#14)

by TonyH on Fri Jan 25, 2008 at 12:01:53 PM GMT

It has also been said that decisions are made by those who show up.

We compel people to cast a ballot but we can never compel them to make a decision on sensible or community based grounds – or any grounds for that matter.

There is merit to the argument that voting is a responsibility - but is it not too similar to the argument that volunteering and giving to charity are responsibilities? Brilliant things to do, but inappropriate to compel.

We should also be clear about who we’re trying to involve. I know several people who are fully aware of the differences between parties but never vote for any of them because the system appears useless. 

Taxpayers and council taxpayers employ people to sort out the bins, pave the roads and make buses run on time etc. – yet we see the Commons and town hall chambers empty more often than not, we see them day in, day out squabbling about statistics, writing op-ed pieces about their dogmatic ideology, fawning at newspaper editors, scrabbling for the “safe seat” in my employ, re-writing history and appearing to never concentrate on what I’ve employed them for.

If we were to make actual governing and administration compulsory for at least eight hours a day – I suspect compulsory voting would be less of an issue.


[ Parent ]

Re: Should we make voting compulsory? (#15)

by NeilF on Mon Feb 04, 2008 at 10:02:24 PM GMT

A few years ago I think I would have been dead against this, but now I'm probably inclined to support a trial of it. If you look at the mess made by introducing PR into local government elections in Scotland, this should be much more straight forward.

The political impact on parties could be very positive.  Tom Watson made this comment on his blog when discussing issues with Jon Cruddas around the dangers of an excessive focus on marginal seats.


'As I have said before if everyone has to vote, political parties will not be able to focus their attention on a limited number of regular swing voters. In any constituency you could point to at least 1 in 5 voters who never, ever vote at a general election, even more in local elections.'
 
http://www.tom-watson.co.uk/?p=574#more-574


Should we make voting compulsory? | 15 comments (15 topical)