When registration and voting in federal elections was introduced for Aboriginal Australians in 1949, they were voluntary and remained so until 1984, when registration and voting became compulsory for all eligible voters. Voter turnout in Australian elections has never fallen below 90% since compulsory voting was introduced in 1924. What I am proposing today is to provide you with some background information on compulsory voting in Australia and then to discuss some of the main arguments about compulsory voting. Although the right to vote is the freedom sought by people around the world, Australians have no choice as the country makes voting compulsory. Countries that are legally required to vote but do not enforce it: “People have been sentenced to prison for not voting. It`s disgusting. It is far from democratic. We are not a democracy if we cannot vote democratically,” he said. In addition, mandatory voting can also contribute to political legitimacy understood in a slightly different way – namely, the idea that laws and policies are only politically legitimate if they are justified by the invocation of reasons that all citizens can accept at some level of idealization.
Specifically, in a parliamentary democracy like Australia, mandatory voting can contribute to public argument and political legitimacy by forcing public servants to pay close attention to a wide range of worldviews, interests and demands and, based on this information, to justify laws and policies that appeal to the common good rather than specific sectarian interests. In August 2021, the Federal Parliament passed several bills to reform Australia`s electoral system. The changes that the Morrison government has not touched are almost as remarkable as the reforms enshrined in this bill. Last December, the coalition-controlled Permanent Joint Committee on Electoral Affairs (JSCEM) presented its report on the 2019 Bundestag elections. It contained a number of recommendations for electoral reform – among the most controversial was the replacement of mandatory preferential voting with optional preferential voting. This recommendation was condemned by both the Labour Party and the Greens in their minority JSCEM reports. Labor described the recommendation on voluntary preferential elections as an “attack on compulsory voting”, which was “the cornerstone of Australian democracy”. Gradually, states across the country introduced compulsory voting, starting with Victoria in 1926, New South Wales and Tasmania in 1928, Western Australia in 1936 and South Australia in 1942. Any change in the voting or registration requirement falls within the jurisdiction of the Federal Parliament. What is mandatory voting and its history? According to the Australian Electoral Commission, declining voter turnout was the driving force behind the introduction of compulsory voting. Voter turnout fell from 71% in the 1919 election to less than 60% in the 1922 election. It is also important to point out that opposition to mandatory voting in Australia has almost always been based on rather abstract arguments that have not found much appeal to citizens, particularly given the tangible benefits of mandatory voting – notably the high turnout.
These arguments include the view that compulsory voting constitutes an undue interference with individual liberty; whereas it is not necessary to ensure a high turnout; that it is undemocratic; violates people`s “right not to vote”; whereas it has a negative impact on the conduct and organisation of Australian political parties; and that it has the potential to undermine Australian democracy by mobilising many unmotivated voters. A 2005 Inter-American Development Bank working paper purported to show that there is a correlation between compulsory voting, when strictly enforced, and improvements in income distribution, as measured by the Gini coefficient and the lowest income quintiles of the population. [23] However, a recent Conference Board of Canada study on global income inequality, also based on the Gini index, shows that income inequality is lowest in Scandinavian countries where voting has never been compulsory, while Australia and, to a lesser extent, Belgium, which strictly enforce compulsory voting, have higher levels of income inequality than a number of other Western countries. such as Canada, France, Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands, where voting is not compulsory. [24] The 2004 JSCEM recommended a comprehensive and separate survey into voluntary and mandatory voting. So you might as well engage in a political process and know what`s going on. So when it`s time to vote, we vote with a very clear head on who represents our interests,” Murphy said. Compulsory voting, also known as compulsory voting, is in some countries the obligation for citizens with the right to vote to register and participate in elections. Sanctions may be imposed on those who fail to do so without good reason. According to the CIA World Factbook, 21 countries, including 10 Latin American countries, had mandatory official voting in December 2021[1], with some of these countries not implementing it. Voting for a party is not mandatory, as blank votes can be cast and counted.
Not all laws are created to be enforced. Some laws are created simply to state the government`s position on citizen responsibility. Mandatory electoral laws that do not provide for sanctions may fall into this category. While a government may not enforce mandatory election laws or even provide for official penalties for non-voting, the law can have an impact on citizens. In Austria, for example, voting is compulsory in only two regions, with weak enforcement of sanctions. However, these regions tend to have a higher participation rate than the national average. Would it be worrying if Australia were to return to voluntary voting and have such a low turnout in federal and state elections? Another argument against mandatory voting that prevails among jurists in the United States is that it is essentially a forced act of expression that violates freedom of speech because freedom of speech necessarily includes the freedom not to speak. [26] According to the electoral law, the real duty of the voter is to go to a polling station, have his name removed from the certified list, receive a ballot paper and bring it to a single polling booth, mark it, fold the ballot and put it in the ballot box. In 1915, consideration was given to making voting in a proposed referendum compulsory. As the referendum never took place, the idea was not pursued. The modelling of voluntary voting in elections has been hampered by insufficient data.