Voting should be compulsory in the UK

Forcing people to vote (against their will, in the case of some Jehovah’s Witnesses) does not ensure a greater democratic mandate. There will be voters who are voting not because they want a particular party to win but simply because they have to vote.

Bullying tactics should never be used in free and fair elections because they undermine the democratic process, and compulsory voting works only when backed up with fiscal punishment for those who don’t vote.

People only become apathetic because the politics of the main parties are not relevant to them. Getting rid of apathy does not require reforming the electoral process but making sure the politics of the day engage the public.

Compulsory voting would merely be addressing a symptom of a wider problem, not the root cause.

Just because it ‘works’ in other countries does not mean that it should be implemented here.

Further questions are raised about how people will vote when they remain apathetic to the process but are compelled to vote: it can hardly be said to ‘work’ when some people may vote for a candidate at random because they are still uninformed and ignorant of policies.

Voting is not a duty but a right, and as with all rights, people must retain the ability not to exercise it. A 40% abstention vote would be more embarrassing to the winning party than a 60% turnout, because it highlights further the dissatisfaction of the public with the politics of the day.

Paying taxes is a duty because everyone uses the services the government provides, such as roads, schools, hospitals and so on, regardless of whether they vote or not, and regardless of which party they voted for.

It is not hypocrisy because we still offer the democratic process, holding free and fair general elections no later than every 5 years. Hypocrisy would be to export democracy while eroding it at home, removing the right to vote and so on. This is simply not the case.

Instead of trying to engage people by force, how about introducing political education in schools and encouraging political conversation. How about educating the public on how Westminster affects them? People vote with their feet. If they are not interested, they are not interested! The government should be trying to engage people by other means, not compulsory voting. It may improve low turnout but will not affect what people actually think about politics.

If the purpose is to increase turnout, weekend voting would be the more sensible option. It gives people more free time in which to vote, and doesn’t have the problems that coercion brings with it. It doesn’t address the wider problem of apathy, but treats the non-voting problem more acceptably than compulsory voting does.

Better yet, introduce a public holiday on election days and provide free public transport to and from polling stations.

Voting holds a special place in a democracy; it is the very foundation of the mandate our elected representatives hold. To turn it into something everyone over the age of 18 must do would take away something from that.

A non-vote (i.e. staying at home) sends a more powerful signal of apathy than does a spoilt ballot or abstention vote; a non-vote says that the citizen is dissatisfied with the entire process, that politics do not address any concern she has. A spoilt ballot or abstention vote in a compulsory election, however, merely expresses dissatisfaction with the particular candidates in the constituency, and hides the deeper malaise that may be there.

Compulsory voting merely sweeps under the carpet the legitimate dissatisfaction many people feel with politics, and will not lead to the regeneration of politics that its proponents suggest. Many people will merely vote at random, because ‘they have to’, rather than expressing their apathy.
A person who conciously elects, in their own mind, that they do not wish to participate in an election process, for whatever reason(s) they may have, should not be legally obliged to vote or in any way participate if they choose not to do so.

Forcing people into voting when they are disengaged from the politic process will exacerbate this problem; no one likes doing something simply because they have to. Election results may be skewed, particularly in marginal seats, by voters who vote at random because they still don’t bother to find out about the candidates, parties and policies involved.

Rather than forcing people to vote, more should be done to engage the public in political life. Westminster is a distant body, detached from real life, and should be made more relevant and more deserving of the public’s trust, for example by releasing full details of MPs’ expenses.

Citizenship classes should teach the importance of the electoral process, and the history of the suffragette movement, the reform bills of the 19th century and the responsibilities of living in a democracy.

Only where the ballot offers a “none of the above” option can compulsory voting being truly democratic. However, where this is the case if the “none of the above” option achieves over 50% of the vote does democracy simply fail and the state fall into anarchy? that would be truly democratic, although, hardly pragmatic. Consider that in most British elections the majority is not in fact the winning party, but in fact, the non-voters.

Would you force someone to vote even if they were actively uninterested in politics? Even if they were determined to cross a random box? Even if they did not even know the political party in power/opposition?

If you force everyone to vote you make it a criminal offence to be incredibly apathetic, so the incredibly apathetic people will merely vote insensibly, counting against the people who are actually voting on the basis of informed opinion. In an extreme case, idiots could sway the result of an election.

If your not even bothered enough about the future of your country’s government to even turn up at the polling booth at each general election, then you don’t get a say, and I think thats actually good. Forcing uninterested people to vote is not really democratic its just random.

You might want to decide who’s in power by throwing the dice instead.

There really is no point voting a lot of the time anyways because they always promise to do this promise to do that but then once they are in office they do what ever the hell they want anyways. It is always promises that are broken you can’t trust politicians they are all bred to lie and miss lead in the end.

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Actually promises are more likely to be broken, because it will dilute interested, informed voters with uninterested, uninformed voters.

Punishing someone for not voting would add insult to injury. By not voting, a person has actually made a huge sacrifice – they have waived their right to have any say in the running of their country and possibly incurred extreme consequences if the person who is voted in decides to persecute them. If a person doesn’t vote, knowing the full consequences of their actions, it is akin to surrendering in battle – an action that, rather than ‘lazy’, is a powerful decision in itself, not something you do without a good reason.

On the corollary, when a person votes, they are making use of their right. They are reaping a reward – it is like one free voucher to slightly more political power than they would otherwise have. While I am not saying it is an unvirtuous thing to vote – I admire anyone who votes for a genuinely ethical party against the advice of a strong majority – I do not think rewarding a reward makes a lot of sense.