Compulsory voting

[1] Law enforcement in those countries varies considerably and the penalty for not casting a ballot without a proper justification ranges from severe to non-existent.

For example, Aristophanes's comedy Acharnians 17–22, in the 5th century BC, shows public slaves herding citizens from the agora into the assembly meeting place (Pnyx) with a red-stained rope.

[4] Cicero argues that the right to vote provided Roman citizens with a certain degree of political participation, thereby guaranteeing their de facto ownership of their property, which they could administer as they wished.

However, Cicero mentions an election that could not continue because of particularly low voter turnout, requiring a temporary draft to be implemented, though it is unclear if this was an exceptional case.

This major step towards the universal democratic principle of "one person, one vote" strengthens democracies and aligns the choices of its politicians with the preferences of its citizens.

Since elections cannot be determined by turnout, they are decided by swing voters and won in the center... That is one reason Australia's version of the far right lacks anything like the power of its European or American counterparts.

[20] High levels of participation decreases the risk of political instability created by crises or charismatic but sectionally focused demagogues.

[22] However, a more recent Conference Board of Canada study on World income inequality – also relying on the Gini index – shows that income inequality is lowest in the Scandinavian countries, where compulsory voting has never existed, while Australia, and to a lesser extent Belgium, which strictly enforce their compulsory voting legislation, have a higher income inequality level than a number of other Western countries, such as Canada, France, Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands, where compulsory voting does not exist.

[23] Supporters of compulsory voting also argue that just as the secret ballot is designed to prevent interference with the votes actually cast, compelling voters to the polls for an election removes interference with accessing a polling place, reducing the impact that external factors such as the weather, transport, or restrictive employers might have.

[18] For example, since far fewer campaign funds are needed to convince people to vote, they can be directed towards discussing proposed policies with a wider range of voters.

[25][26] Concerns about fines landing harder on the poorest citizens can lead to reforms to ensure penalties are mild for the poorest citizens and that voting is accessible and seamless for all to help assure concerned voters that mandatory voting will not become a regressive tax.

[18] The impact of these fines can be mitigated by making sure they do not compound over time, are weighted based on income, and by providing an option to perform community service in lieu of payment.

[28] At the 2013 federal election, considering the threat of a non-voting fine of up to A$20,[29] there was a turnout of 92%,[30] of whom 6% lodged either informal or blank ballot papers.

"[38] A 2016 study finds that compulsory voting reduces the gender gap in electoral engagement in several ways.

[41] A 2024 study found that compulsory voting can reduce political polarization and push political parties towards the preferences of the median voter by eliminating the ability of extremist partisans to threaten to abstain from voting (which pressures parties to adopt policies to appease those voters).

[42] According to a 1997 paper by Malcolm Mackerras and Ian McAllister, in Australia "polls taken over the years have consistently shown a community support of between 60 and 70 per cent" for compulsory voting.

As of January 2020, of the 36 member states of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, only Australia had forms of compulsory voting which were enforced in practice.

In Australia, if a citizen is asked why they did not vote and they reply that it is against their religion, the Electoral Act provides that this answer must be taken as conclusive, and no further action is to be taken.

If a Bolivian voter fails to participate in an election, the person may be denied withdrawal of the salary from the bank for three months.