Compulsory voting

Compulsory voting is a system in which voters are obliged to vote in elections or attend a polling place on voting day. If an eligible voter does not attend a polling place, or lodge a postal vote, he or she may be subject to a penalty such as fines or community service. As of August 2013^[update], 22 countries, including 12 Latin American countries, have laws for compulsory voting, and 11 of these 22 countries enforce these laws in practice.

Athenian democracy held that it was every citizen's duty to participate in decision making, but attendance at the assembly was voluntary. Sometimes there was some form of social to those not participating. 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. Those with red on their clothes were fined. This usually happened if fewer than 6,000 people were in attendance, and more were needed for the assembly to continue.

Supporters of compulsory voting generally look upon voter participation as a civic duty, similar to taxation, jury duty, compulsory education or military service; one of the "duties to community" mentioned in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. They believe that, by introducing an obligation to vote, it helps to overcome the occasional inconvenience that voting imposes on an individual in order to produce governments with more stability, legitimacy and a genuine mandate to govern, which in turn benefits that individual even if their preferred candidate or party is not elected to power. The idea that compulsory voting results in a higher degree of political legitimacy is based on it resulting in high voter turnout. The victorious candidate therefore represents a majority of the population, not just of the politically motivated individuals who would vote without compulsion.

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