What's the point of democracy...

...if Australians don't understand freedom?

Most democracies in the world do not enforce compulsory voting like we do here in Australia. Enforced compulsory voting is extremely rare. Many other countries with voluntary voting also have higher voter turnouts than we do, including Sweden, Malta, Iceland, and Denmark.

We tend to assume that if Australians are not forced to attend the polls, our voter turnouts will plummet. We think people only vote to avoid a $50 fine.

Some people say ‘compulsory attendance’ reminds us of value of democracy by forcing us to engage with the process. But it does the complete opposite. It encourages people to completely disengage with the free thought process required when one decides to vote. It encourages blind conformity.

 

Our decision to vote should be democratic.