Democracy and Voting

Ran from September 15th 2006

In recent years, the decline in voter turnout at British general elections has prompted many leading politicians and political commentators to back reforms that will encourage – or indeed compel – citizens to take part in the electoral process.

Download and read the Democracy and Voting booklet.

The discussion starts with the following questions:

  • Is compulsory voting the best solution to low turnouts?
  • Would it enhance civic participation or merely paper over the cracks in our parliamentary democracy?
  • Should we examine other solutions rather than forcing people to the ballot box?

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Welcome to the debate!

Posted by Philip on 13/09/2006 - 13:15

Welcome to the second in the series of online discussions organised as part of the Hansard Society’s Democracy Series project.

The point of this forum is to encourage debate on some of the issues raised in the latest Democracy and Voting pamphlet, which discusses whether citizens in a democratic society should be forced to vote in elections.

The author of the pamphlet argues that compulsory voting is ineffective, and does not represent a good response to political disengagement. Do you agree? Do you vote in elections? Do you think that your vote makes a difference? Or should the system be reformed in a way that gives more control to individual citizens? We’re keen to hear your views, so get posting!

Compulsory Voting

Posted by alfonso on 13/09/2006 - 16:17

Compulsory voting is the only solution to low voter turnouts. People have a democratic duty to vote and, if they want to protest, they should simply spoil their ballot paper.

Compulsory Voting

Posted by Awrapson on 13/09/2006 - 16:28

Yes, I'm in favour. The main thing is to get people to the polling station. If they spoil the ballot paper once it's in their hands, that's their business.

Of course, we could make it easier to find the polling station. Mine is hidden the other side of the men's locker room in an FE college. Not an obvious place.

My thoughts

Posted by Iris Potter on 14/09/2006 - 09:00

The idea of voting becoming compulsory fills me with horror, as that was never the suffragettes’ idea at all. They fought long and hard to give women the ‘right to vote’ which is a different thing altogether. It’s a very precious right, not to be taken lightly and certainly not to be compulsory.

Quite a lot of people don’t vote because the parties of their choice havn’t fielded a candidate, and to have to go and either compromise or spoil the ballet paper is an insult to the system.

compulsory voting

Posted by g on 15/09/2006 - 15:04

I strongly agree with the author of this new report, that compulsory voting is a step too far -whatever next?

We should be making it easier for people to vote, not forcing them to do so with one hand tied behind their back.

I also think that the parties could be doing more to grab people's attention, getting them interested in politics - for positive, rather than sleazy reasons that we read about daily in the papers!

You can take a horse to water but you can't make it vote

Posted by Bill on 15/09/2006 - 15:15

When the public don't buy a brand of TV, soft drink, car etc no-one legislates to force us into it and the company goes out of business. Why should political parties who are failing to capture the imagination of the public be allowed to abuse their position and force us into doing anything?

I'm well aware that the business of government is much more important than buying a can of Coke but why should the status quo (by which I mean monolithic political parties) be protected from being the failure it currently is.

If compulsory voting were to be introduced I think there would be some ridiculous as well as dangerous consequences as I think lots of "none of the above" style campaigns a la Brewsters Millions would be spawned.

Higher turnout but not at the expense of quality politics

Posted by politix on 15/09/2006 - 15:20

Surely the most important part of the debate is that people understand what they are voting for. With compulsory voting I think it is much more likely that people will be tempted to think 'which is my favourite colour today?' or 'whoose face do I prefer?'.

This shallowness is eating away at our culture and I think politics is heading in the same direction. How many voters, particularly those who are young or socially excluded understand what the party they vote for will really do if they get into government?

The politics of spin has overtaken the politics of substance in Britain and I believe compulsory voting would reinforce populism without any real consideration of incredibly complex issues.

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Democracy and Voting

Posted by Rosie on 15/09/2006 - 18:51

Surely people vote when they think there's something worth voting for? The last couple of elections haven't inspired people to get to the ballot box - but in 1997 the turnout was high because people wanted to get rid of the Tories. Compulsion would turn people off politics even more than they are at the moment, but it would all be hidden because they would be forced to the polling station. How's that good for democracy?

Compulsory voting

Posted by Tauruss88V on 20/09/2006 - 22:17

Compulsory voting is the last thing any Democracy needs. What we need, is an incentive for those masses that turn on the television everyday, see the media jabbering on about nothing, and then are turned off from voting. Why would you vote for something you see as a joke? What we need is to have work and school closed on Voting Day and polling stations in accessible areas for everyone. Maybe a small tax rebate for that day of missed work for everyone who voted would also make things go smoother. Also allowing free food or merchandise, such as the shirts or buttons you can get for donating blood, wouldn't ruin voting, but make it more feasible for people to go. I know some of you might say that is commercializing voting, which is a very serious matter, and I agree with you. However, there are thousands of people who don't because they need to work, or their kids need to go to school, and there are a thousand other things to do than waste your time standing in some boring line waiting to go into a booth and pick some old men to lead your country. We need to rethink our strategy for getting our citizens to the polls.

Forum closed...

Posted by Alex on 16/02/2007 - 11:21

Thank you to all those people who have posted comments in this debate on Democracy and Voting.

Please keep checking the Debates section to keep up to date on the latest discussions and have your input.