Mandatory voting

From all reports, advance polls this past weekend were very busy with some voters facing significant waits to cast their ballots. This bodes well for the rate of voter turnout, which will hopefully be up from the dismal 60.9% that bothered to express an opinion in 2004. I am hoping that we top 66% this time around, which would still mean that 1 in 3 voters don't think that taking an interest in the future of society is worth their time.

Nevertheless, on Canada AM this morning, the hosts were briefly discussing the Australian law that makes voting mandatory. Under that scheme, if you don't show up to cast a ballot, you face a find of $50. If you don't pay the $50, then you are hauled off to jail. For people who face obstacles to get to their local voting station, for example, if you got into a car accident that day, they waive the fine.

I don't think that mandatory voting laws are a good idea. First of all, we have the right to ignorance and apathy. I mean that. In Canada, we are fortunate that our government is not so omnipresent in our lives that we can afford to put our head in the sand and let others decide the direction of our country if we so choose. That is the beauty of living in a liberal capitalist democracy ... in the words of Neil Peart, "If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice". Secondly, what kind of vote is it if you are casting it just to avoid a $50 penalty? That is no guarantee of an informed vote. Finally, for the state to enforce such a law would require significant resources that I think could be better spent elsewhere.

I understand the goal of the Aussie law, which is to develop a civic culture, but I don't think that a mandatory voting law is the way to go to do it.