so I lied and my blog called me.

I was lying in bed, and came up with an excellent blogtopic: Why Compulsory Voting should come to America. That's gonna be the theme of the next two weeks until Election Day, barring any wars, strike-breakings, government-sponsered sniper shootings, outright lies and half-truths, and general belligerence the administration can heap on us.

My stance on this issue is yes: We should mandate voting. When people do not participate in a democracy (you know, that thing Dubya so wants to protect from "freedom hating terrorists" but really wants to sell it to big oil--sorry, i had to take a swipe), they weaken it. Case in point: Look who's in the White House (sorry, I had to take another stab.) Of course, I will do my homework and examine fully both sides of the issue.

We'll start off with this essay.

LIST OF COUNTRIES WITH COMPULSORY VOTING


Country Status * Population * Constitutional or legal authority/comments/Penalty

Argentina Free 36 100 000 Constitution. Article 37. Introduced 1912 by "Saénz Peña Law". Enshrined in Constitution in 1994. Some exceptions – health, distance. Various penalties: Fine. Not entitled to hold public office for 3 years.

Australia Free 18 700 000 Introduced 1924. Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918, section 245. Fine of $20(australian).

Austria Free 8 100 000 Compulsory in 2 provinces, Tyrol and Vorarlberg, for provincial and presidential elections. Fine 1000 schillings for failure to vote without valid reason.

Belgium Free 10 200 000 Constitution. Article 48. Adopted 1831. Revised 1920. Persons unable to vote personally may give power of attorney to family member. Penalties are official reprimands or fines.

Bolivia Free 8 000 000 Constitution. Title 9. Electoral regime, Chapter 1. Suffrage. Article 219. 'Suffrage constitutes the foundation of the representative democratic regime and it is based on the universal, direct and equal, individual and secret, free and obligatory vote; on a public counting of votes, and on a system of proportional representation.'
Electoral Code. Chapter 2. Suffrage. Article 6. 'obligatory, because it constitutes a responsibility which cannot be renounced.'

Brazil Partly free 162 100 000 Constitution. Article 14. Compulsory for citizens 18 years and over. Optional for illiterates and those over 70, and for those between 16 and 18 years. Fine

Chile Free 14 800 000 Constitution. Article 15. "in popular voting, vote shall be personal, egalitarian and secret. In addition, for citizens it shall be compulsory."

Cyprus Free 700 000 Electoral Bill. Voting is compulsory and failure to vote constitutes a criminal offence. Fine of up to CY 200. Chapter 8, article 6 of Bill for the Registration of Electors and the Registrar of Electors makes registration compulsory. Failure to register: imprisonment of up to one month or fine of up to CY75 or both. Provisions applicable for unjustifiable failure to vote or register.

Ecuador Free 12 200 000 Introduced in 1905. Constitution and National Law of Elections. Optional for illiterates or for over 65. Penalty: deprivation of civil rights

Egypt Not free 65 500 000 Constitution. Article 62. ' Participation in public life is a national duty.'

Fiji Islands Partly free 800 000 1998 Constitution. (Suspended 2000). Chapter 6, part 2, sections 54-57. $20 fine for failure to vote, $50 for failure to register

Greece Free 10 500 000 Constitution of the Hellenic Republic, 1975, revised 1986. Article 51, Paragraph 3.
'The members of Parliament shall be elected through direct, universal and secret ballot by citizens who have the right to vote, as specified by law. The law cannot abridge the right to vote except in cases where minimum voting age has not been attained or in cases of illegal incapacity or as a result of irrevocable criminal conviction for certain felonies.
Paragraph 5. 'Exercise of the right to vote shall be compulsory. Exceptions and penalties shall be specified each time by law.'
Presidential Act No 92/9-5-94. Article 6. Paragraph 2. "exercise of the right to vote is compulsory.'
Law No 2623/25.6.98 provides voting is not compulsory for citizens over 70, or for electors overseas on national or European election days.

Italy Free 57 700 000 Constitution. Article 48.2 'the vote is personal and equal, free and confidential. Voting is a civic duty'. Failure to vote may be noted on official papers.

Liechtenstein Free 30 000 Voting is compulsory, but no penalty applies for failure to vote.

Luxembourg Free 400 000 CIA Factbook.: Parline. Fine

Nauru Free 10 000 Compulsory for Nauruans aged over 20.

Paraguay Partly free 5 200 000 Constitution. Article 118. Suffrage is a right, a duty, and a public function of a voter. It is the basis of a representative democracy. It is based on universal, free, direct, equal and secret voting, as well as on a publicly supervised vote count and a proportional representation system.

Peru Partly free 26 100 000 Constitution. Article 31. 'Voting is individual, equal, free, secret and obligatory up to the age of 70. It is optional after that age.'

Singapore Partly free 3 900 000 Parliamentary Elections Act 1959. $5.00 penalty.

Switzerland Free 7 100 000 The small canton of Schaffhausen has compulsory voting on all cantonal matters and in referenda.

Thailand Free 61 100 000 Constitution 1997. Chapter IV, Section 68. 'Every person shall have a duty to exercise his or her right to vote at an election.
The person who fails to vote without notifying the appropriate cause of the inability to attend the election shall lose his or her right to vote as provided by law.
The notification of the inability to attend the election and the provision of facilities for the attendance thereat shall be in accordance with the provisions of law.'

Turkey Partly free 64 800 000 AEC. See also 'Elections round up: Turkey' in Representation, Vol.36, No.2, Summer 1999:188.

Uruguay Free 3 200 000 Constitution. Article 77. 'Suffrage shall be exercised in the manner determined by law, but on the following bases:
Compulsory inscription in the Civil Register.
Secret and compulsory vote. The law, by an absolute majority of the full membership of each chamber, shall regulate the fulfilment of this obligation.'
Fine

Venezuela Free 23 300 000 Adopted 1961. Constitution states voting is a right and also a duty. No penalty for not voting, but voting is necessary for some public service appointments, eg diplomatic service.

(Information is taken from: Murray, Andrew. Minority Report : Inquiry into the 1998 Federal Election. minority report)


Some of these countries, yes, are not the most open societies. That still doesn't matter to me. I see more open democracies on this list then closed ones.

(Please note that Iraq is not on this list.)


I look forward to hearing your thoughts. Email me your thoughts and ideas.