Cause and effect? Informal and compulsory voting in Australia

Abstract

Some opponents of compulsory voting claim that rising rates of informal voting point to growing antipathy towards the institution. In order to test this claim we examine recent trends in informal voting. We suggest that it is not compulsion that is leading to informal voting but rather complexity and its interactions with near universal turnout. We also problematise, methodologically, a number of assumptions made by those who reject compulsory voting on the informal ballot ground and thereby contest the normative implication of their claims; namely, that because compulsory voting appears to elicit a rise in informal voting caused by forcing the reluctant or incompetent to vote, a voluntary system is preferable. The paper concludes with a reflection on alternative means for reducing the informal vote.