The concept and main patterns of compulsory voting

Abstract

Elections are one of the main institutions of good governance. The correct and relevant functioning of the mentioned institution determines the quality of democracy, the legal self-awareness of society and the index of political-economic development of the country. The democratic nature of the elections is indicated by the existence of specific principles, which are stipulated by the electoral law, in particular, universal suffrage, equality, free elections, and secret ballots. The relevant interpretation of each principle determines the effectiveness of the institution. The presented paper focuses on the institution of compulsory voting, which is directly related to the expression of free will. The aim of the paper is to review the institution of compulsory voting, to study its impact on electoral integrity and the overall legitimacy of the political system. According to literature review, the pros and cons of compulsory voting are highly debated. The reason is that there are a lot of supporters and opponents of a given institution with quite strong arguments supporting or opposing the institution. Based on the goals of the paper, it provides a description of the concept of compulsory voting and the reasons for establishing the mentioned institution. The paper reviews the types of obligation and their characteristics, explains the different systems of sanctions imposed on the persons avoiding their voting obligations, and the exemption rules based on the legislation of various countries. Based on literature review and collected data analysis, authors highlight the main patterns of compulsory voting, its relationship with legitimacy and efficiency of elected body. The final part of the paper outlines and evaluates the arguments for and against compulsory electoral participation and presents main findings according to comparative analysis of different cases. Based on the analysis it’s obvious that the institution of compulsory voting cannot be considered with the same results in different societies or states with different social-economic conditions.

Keywords

• compulsory voting
• elections
• sanctions
• pull and push factors
• electoral turnout
• legitimacy