compulsory voting

(noun)

Compulsory voting is a system in which electors are obliged to vote in elections or attend a polling place on voting day. If an eligible voter does not attend a polling place, he or she may be subject to punitive measures, such as fines, community service, or perhaps imprisonment if fines are unpaid or community service not performed.

Related Terms

Examples of compulsory voting in the following topics:

  • Attempts to Improve Voter Turnout

    • Furthermore, compulsory voting may infringe on other rights.
    • Compulsory voting ensures a large voter turnout.
    • Red: Compulsory voting, enforced.
    • Pink: Compulsory voting, not enforced.
    • Orange: Compulsory voting, enforced (only men).

  • The Purpose of Elections

    • The question of who may vote is a central issue in elections.
    • Suffrage is the right to vote gained through the democratic process.
    • Citizens become eligible to vote after reaching the voting age, which is typically eighteen years old as of 2012 in the United States.
    • In some countries, voting is required by law.
    • Compulsory voting is a system in which electors are obliged to vote in elections or attend a polling place on voting day.

  • Factors Affecting Voter Turnout

    • When asked why they do not vote, many people report that they have too little free time.
    • Making voting compulsory has a direct and dramatic effect on turnout.
    • Simply making it easier for candidates to stand through easier nomination rules is believed to increase voting.
    • Ease of voting is a factor in rates of turnout.
    • This suppression can be in the form of unfair tests or requirements to vote.

  • Women vs. Men

    • In 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution gave women the right to vote and, today, women vote at similar rates to men.
    • There are a variety of theories that help to explain who votes.
    • Other approaches examine the question of the rationality of voting: does voting serve the self-interest of any given individual, and what are the interests or issues that might change someone's voting patterns?
    • In spite of this long-term institutional barrier to voting, women today vote at similar rates to men.
    • Women also do not generally vote as a bloc, and instead tend to be as diverse in their voting patterns as men.

  • Winning an Election: Majority, Plurality, and Proportional Representation

    • Common voting systems are majority rule, proportional representation, or plurality voting with a number of criteria for the winner.
    • A voting system contains rules for valid voting, and how votes are counted and aggregated to yield a final result.
    • Common voting systems are majority rule, proportional representation, or plurality voting with a number of variations and methods such as first-past-the-post or preferential voting.
    • The plurality voting system is a single-winner voting system often used to elect executive officers or to elect members of a legislative assembly that is based on single-member constituencies .
    • Compare and contrast the voting systems of majority rule, proportional representation and plurality voting

  • [PF content: Why People Don't Vote]

  • The Sixth Amendment

    • In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.

  • Socioeconomic Factors

    • Independently, income has some effect on whether or not people vote.
    • The more educated a person is, the more likely he or she is to vote.
    • In comparison, only 39% of those without a high school diploma voted that year.
    • This is a figure illustrating the different rates of voting in the 2008 U.S.
    • The higher income, the more likely a person is to vote.

  • Issue Voting

    • In contrast to party voting, issue voting is when voters base their election decisions on political issues.
    • Individuals vote for the candidate that best matches their own views.
    • Issue voting has become prominent in recent elections.
    • While issue voting has risen in recent years, many factors can complicate it.
    • Issue voting has affected the decisions Americans make at the voting booth.

  • Policy Preferences

    • In some elections, voters are motivated to vote a certain way based on specific policy preferences, which is called issue voting.
    • In "issue voting," voters cast their vote based primarily on specific political issues .
    • According to the theory of issue voting, voters vote based on policy preferences; they compare the candidates' respective principles against their own in order to decide who to vote for.
    • Issue voting is often contrasted with party voting.
    • Differentiate between issue voting and party voting and the reason(s) a voter would opt for one or the other