Why mandatory voting is really important

As always, the US election brings with it debate over democratic participation and different democratic systems. The US system is one based on non compulsory voting. In my opinion, it has several flaws. So I would like to examine why I believe that mandatory voting, which we have in Australia, is a really valuable part of our democratic system and in turn, why it is a shame that it is not more common throughout democracies in the world. 

First, let’s examine the harms which non compulsory voting can usher in.

In America, because not everybody votes, there is no clear pressure on the government to ensure that everybody can easily access voting stations, or even register to vote. In some states, registering to vote is incredibly difficult, and efforts to create mass registration on the part of the Democrats were met with attempts on the part of governing Republicans to outlaw such actions. In what sort of country is registering people to the electoral roll something that could ever be outlawed? In Australia, we are simply mailed registration forms on our seventeenth birthday.

This is before we even get to election day. America’s constitution requires the election to be held on the first Tuesday after the second Monday in November. That’s fine, except for the fact that Tuesday is a work day, which means often that people need to take time off work to vote and find a polling station. This creates a natural disincentive for people to actually get themselves to a polling station.

Furthermore, because there is an uncertainty about how many people will actually turn up, it leads to scenarios such as was seen in the US election this year where people often had to wait in line for hours. If there is no tangible benefit to the individual, why would they remain in a line for hours on end, given that the statistics say that their vote doesn’t actually count that much?

People need to be given a better system that doesn’t make it difficult for them to vote. 

So what about the benefits of mandatory voting?

There are two classic arguments against compulsory voting. The first is that people shouldn’t be forced to do something against their will. I completely agree, except as members of a society, we do things we’d rather not do all the time. We pay tax, we drive at (or close to) the speed limit, we go to work. Voting is as necessary for the continuation of a democracy as paying taxes. If that argument were to truly stand, then perhaps we should make taxes optional as well.

The second argument against is that “it gives stupid people a voice”. I overheard someone saying this a few months ago. The arrogance and stupidity of that comment blew me away. There a few flaws with that eloquently made contention:

1) ‘Stupid’ people still have the option of voting in America, and one can assume that at least some of them opt to exercise that choice.

2) Who exactly are ‘stupid’ people? Judging by that comment, I would argue that the person responsible for uttering those words is probably a few IQ points short of genius themselves – should we exclude her from voting because she’s an elitist moron? (Perhaps)

3) By that sort of meritocratic allocation of votes, perhaps people who may a large amount of taxes should be given more votes like in England back in the 18^th century. Except that sort of allocation meant that people who came from the working or even middle class had less power to elect people who would actually stand up for their rights.

Mandatory voting means that people are a part of the system – there is a smaller chance that people will feel alienated from politics because there is no doubt that they will have the option to vote. If you are an Australian citizen, you must vote. There is no way that the government can attempt to dissuade you from voting. There is no way that you cannot be excluded from registering because you don’t have the ‘correct identification’ – as regulated by a party that feels that people who may have trouble procuring such documents may be a part of a voting bloc that will not vote for that party.

Finally, voting is not only a right, but an obligation. If you want to be a part of a society, you have to contribute to the discourse, and the most important discourse is voting. There should be no excuse for an individual to not participate, even if that participation takes the form of an informal vote.