In Australia this is the case and the Australian Electoral commission gives these reasons for why it is good.
- Voting is a civic duty comparable to other duties citizens perform eg taxation, compulsory education, jury duty
- Teaches the benefits of political participation
- Parliament reflects more accurately the "will of the electorate"
- Governments must consider the total electorate in policy formulation and management
- Candidates can concentrate their campaigning energies on issues rather than encouraging voters to attend the poll
- The voter isn’t actually compelled to vote for anyone because voting is by secret ballot.
- It is undemocratic to force people to vote - an infringement of liberty
- The ill informed and those with little interest in politics are forced to the polls
- It may increase the number of informal votes
- It increases the number of safe, single-member electorates - political parties then concentrate on the more marginal electorates
20 comments:
I do not think it should be compulsory to vote.
If someone doesn't care whether they vote or not, then - if voting were compulsory, their vote would be unlikely to represent them. They would like as not vote randomly, or for the party whose name they last heard or whose logo they last saw.
If all the candidates/parties held policies contrary to a citizen's worldview, then why should the citizen be forced to give his vote to one of them?
Wouldn't you agree Andy that the ACT party does not hold to the same worldview as yourself?
I would agree. But no-one's forcing me to vote, so that's not an issue.
Don't people vote for the party that is closest to their world view?
That's certainly held to be a good idea.
However I know people who will not vote for a candidate/party unless their views match up (almost) exactly.
I also know of people who will vote pragmatically - for the party that a) is closest to their world view and b) has the best chance of making it into Parliament - often this leads to compromises being made.
well I do understand that in Australia that they have a system whereby there is extremely little wasted vote because of the preference system.
Under the MMP system, yes the wasted vote phobia does kick in.
I reckon it's a good idea to have compulsory voting. Just because a lot of people don't care doesn't mean that we should change the system for them. They should care: this is a democracy (so they say) and it's their future they're holding in their voting sheet.
Hmmm, I know where you're coming from - but have a shot at responding to the top comment here.
Exactly Lydz and by making it compulsory to vote we are giving the power back to the people. People not voting is what is allowing bad laws to made in many countries around the world including NZ.
That's right, aye. And even if people can't find a party that fits their world view to a T, they should vote for the next best party (which they do anyway) so they don't have an excuse for not voting. Sometimes you have to vote for the lesser of two evils.
In response to the top comment,
NO, People will not vote randomly. If people know that they have to vote then they will take notice of the political situation and will vote for the party that attracts them the most.
That's what parties all ways do, try and attract votes.
In reply to Lydz, yes people will vote for the party which is closest to their world view. I mean who is going to find a party that they totally agree with. I haven't yet.
Lydz. No, why should one be forced to vote for the lesser of two evils? Where's the principle in that? The lesser of two evils is still evil.
bigfella. Yes, people who do not want to vote - but are forced to, will often vote "randomly".
"will often vote "randomly"."
Has research been done to back up your statement??
Compulsory voting would just add something more for bureaucrats to waffle on about. What a waste of time and money!
Someone did a survey recently and found that a large percentage of Kiwis didn't know there was an election this year. Plus every election the media are always talking about the "swinging" voters who don't decide until they get to the polls. Compulsory voting would just make it easier for the big parties - and way more difficult for tiny ones.
In what way theresa is it going to cost more money?
And if people knew that they have to vote then they would be more aware about the coming election.
Also some of the lack of knowledge can be put down to the EFA as political parties don't know what they can or can't say.
Compulsory voting is taking away your basic human rights. If we have the right to free speech we have the right to silence, you don’t see anyone being forced to speak their opinions. So shouldn’t the right to vote also entail the right to abstain??
Also if voting is compulsary ( as it is here in Aus) then Education of the public about political issues needs to be stepped up! How can you tell everybody they have to vote on a topic, but not give them the knowledge to make an educated decision!
I agree Danica. However I'm not so sure about "educating the public about political issues". The government should certainly have no role in this, but if individuals, organisations or political parties want to, then that is fantastic.
What about education of politics enforced in our schools. That woul be a start in creating a better educated Country!
I am currently writting a speach for uni about why i think voting should be optional in Aus and i came across a wondeful point!! A Quality Vote not one based on quantity!! Surely the country is better off being ran by someone that was voted in by people that understanding what it is that they are coting for rather than everyone chucking in their 2cents.
I also think that the mere fact that our current political parties here is Aus are so accepting of compulsory voting is reason in itself to change it! Having optional voting forces political parties to become more involved with the community and engage the members of the community in order to convince them to come in and vote!! This would create a brouder participation of the community therefore educationg them on the political systems on that country.
Please give me your views on this as it will help me to prepare for my debate!
Hi again,
I'm absolutely opposed to "education of politics" as a compulsory subject in schools. I see where you're coming from - but this is the wrong way to solve the problem. It seems to be inevitable that when politics is taught in schools, the curriculum is laced with the current governement's agenda.
The last thing we want is the Government educating us how to vote. But I agree, it would be excellent to have a much larger base of informed voters - I daresay if that were the case, certain parties in New Zealand anyway, would be voted out of Parliament at the upcoming election.
This is an interesting topic, I may have to blog on it over at starstuddedsuperstep.com :)
Other people are to lazy to vote
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