WHAT MAKES ME VOTE? WELL THE LAW.
Australia’s system of compulsory voting mandates that all individuals 18 and above, enrolled on the electoral roll, are required to vote. Individuals who fail to vote in both State and Federal elections are issued with fines. Fines for failing to vote range from $20 to $133 for a first-time offender. The fine increases for consistently failing to vote.
But more than this legal requirement, it is my view that voting is both my civic right and duty. I am after all required to pay taxes, rely on a government that I have elected, so for a government to be a truly democratic representation of the nation, compulsory voting must be enforced. There are of course arguments against this.
I am always curious when talking to me people internationally that do not have compulsory voting. What makes them vote?
So, I reached out to some friends in Canada and the UK to gain their perspectives on voting, what it means for young people and how they see the importance of their vote in 2019.
Young people were leading the charge for a new government in the recent Canadian election. 21-year-old student Anne Marie Taborek from Ottawa was active on social media, encouraging her friends and family to go out and vote.
Also, in Canada, 23-year-old Claire Peacock in Montreal recognises the privilege of participating in democratic and fair elections and wants to make the most of that opportunity.
Meanwhile, across the Atlantic in the UK, Amy Townsend-Kennedy, a 22 year-old-student from Rugby considers voting to be incredibly important from local to national level, as it has an impact on her life in various ways; from the minimum wage to the tax on her student loan.
But why is Australia different?
During the recent Canadian election, just 66 percent of the population turned out to vote, lower than in recent years. Indeed, Australia introduced compulsory voting following a low turnout in 1922, at just 60 percent, a significant drop from the previous election. As a result, the government of the day introduced compulsory voting, leading to a 91 percent turnout just three years later. As a result, the government produced a society that widely supports compulsory voting.
Ian McAllister, a politics professor at the Australian National University, refers to Australia’s voting culture as utilitarian; we consider “greatest happiness for the greatest number” to be paramount. It was due to this reason that Australia’s system of compulsory voting has been so successful.
In contrast, the US and UK have political cultures that centre around individual rights. As a result, acting for the greater good of the majority is not as widely accepted.
This sentiment was reflected by Amy in the UK. While she would support the introduction of compulsory voting, she didn’t think it would make the results more democratic as it takes away the freedom of choosing to vote. In Canada, Claire also thought of voting a privilege and did not consider forcing people to vote would have a positive outcome for the country. Claire said, “citizens who cannot recognize the importance of voting simply lose out on having their voice heard regarding the future of their country.”
But does compulsory voting actually change the outcome?
The majority of studies that have examined the way in which compulsory voting influences election results have suggested that if there is to be any change, it will favour the left. These divergences are limited however and would only have any impact upon incredibly close elections.
But it makes me wonder how compulsory voting would impact history-altering, once in a generation votes such as the Brexit referendum. When speaking to Amy about the 2016 referendum she thought a lot of young people didn’t vote because “no one actually believed Leave could win so what was the point in voting”.
Amy also referred to Glastonbury, as having an impact on the referendum result. Amy said, “Glastonbury was on that weekend which took 100,000s of (mainly young) people out of the equation.” If Glastonbury wasn’t on this weekend would the result have changed? Probably not. If the UK had compulsory voting would the outcome have been different? Maybe.
So where did compulsory voting come from?
It’s no surprise that Athens, the champion of democracy was first to enforce some form of compulsory voting. It was considered a civic duty in Athenian democracy to participate in the electoral process. Indeed, in Aristophanes’ comedy Archarnians officials stained the clothes of those who had not voted with red colouring, and each individual was then in turn fined.
26 countries worldwide maintain compulsory voting, yet Australia is on the few countries that actually enforce voting.
Belgium is the oldest existing compulsory voting system in the modern world. Compulsory voting was introduced in 1893 for men, with the universal female suffrage being introduced in 1948.
North Korea is another state which enforces compulsory voting. Although only one candidate appears on the ballot, the vote is utilised as a census of sorts; tracking who and who isn’t in the country.
Ok Boomer
The generational divide was something that both Amy and Anne Marie spoke of when asked how the electoral system impacts them.
Amy considered the date of the upcoming UK general election in December to disadvantage young people, particularly university students. With hundreds of thousands of university students living in cities where they aren’t registered vote, some may find it easier not to vote at all. In fact, Amy says “they’ve timed the election really well so that young people specifically won’t be able to have an impact.”
Anne Marie mirrored this sentiment in Canada, considering Boomers having greater power as they have more time and money to vote. In order to help young people, overcome this barrier, Anne Marie was active on social media informing friends of their rights; employers are required to give their workers three hours off work to cast their vote, while ridesharing service Lyft also offered 50% off rides to polling stations in major cities.
Social media played a significant role in encouraging people to turn out and vote and educate individuals on important issues. However, Anne Marie was wary of overstating the helpfulness of social media, considering it has also been particularly harmful in the dissemination of fake news. This also plays into the generational divide, with boomers seven times more likely to spread fake news on Facebook. So, what did I learn from speaking to my friends about their experience with voting? I learned that I should be grateful in Australia, to have a system that ensures true democratic governance because as Professor McAllister says “we do know that the more people turn out to vote in elections, the higher the level of satisfaction with democracy in a country.”
