Compulsory Voting: The View from Canada and the United States

Singh, Shane P.; Williams, Neil S.

doi:10.1007/978-981-33-4025-1_12

Shane P. Singh⁴ &
Neil S. Williams⁴

Part of the book series: Elections, Voting, Technology ((EVT))

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Abstract

This chapter examines past and present debates over compulsory voting in Canada and the United States. It also considers the likelihood of the adoption of compulsory voting in both countries, paying particular attention to their legal environments and federal political structures. It then goes on to examine mass attitudes toward compulsory voting in both countries, and considers the potential consequences of the adoption of compulsory voting in Canada and the United States, beyond the almost certain increase in their relatively anemic turnout rates. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the prospects for higher voter turnout in Canada and the US, with or without compulsory voting.

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Notes

1.
Turnout figures are from the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance.
2.
Enforcement has waned in recent elections in Belgium.
3.
As a point of reference, a 200 acre plantation with 40 slaves in Georgia cost about 2,500 lb in the mid-late 1700s (Hall 2001, pp. 15–16).
4.
There are instances of compelled civic participation in Ancient Greece and medieval and early modern France and Switzerland (Malkopoulou 2015, pp. 56–58).
5.
https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4717954/lbj-compulsory-voting. Accessed 22 July 2020.
6.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaE7ZjahYM. Accessed 22 July 2020.
7.
Gujarat’s High Court stayed its compulsory voting law in 2015.
8.
Prince Edward Island also held a non-binding plebiscite on electoral reform in 2016.
9.
See, for example Stephanopoulos (2015); Weller (2016); Moyo (2019).
10.
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/en/type/data?MM=1. Accessed 22 July 2020.
11.
https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/geographic-mobility/state-to-state-migration.html. Accessed 22 July 2020.

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University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
Shane P. Singh & Neil S. Williams

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Politics and International Relations, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia
Matteo Bonotti
Politics and International Relations, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia
Paul Strangio

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Singh, S.P., Williams, N.S. (2021). Compulsory Voting: The View from Canada and the United States. In: Bonotti, M., Strangio, P. (eds) A Century of Compulsory Voting in Australia. Elections, Voting, Technology. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-4025-1_12

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-4025-1_12
Published: 14 March 2021
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore
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Online ISBN: 978-981-33-4025-1
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