All countries that claim to practice 'compulsory voting', don't. Because they all offer a 'no confidence' option. Which is, in effect, not voting.
It's a nonsense, and a distraction from meaningful attempts at democratic reform
https://nzpod.co.nz/podcast/past-present-future/fixing-democracy-compulsory-voting
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#podcasts #DavidRunciman #PastPresentFuture #democracy #elections #CompulsoryVoting
@strypey
The words most often found adjacent to "no confidence" are, I think, "a vote of". (Albeit in practice the vote is usually of confidence, for ancient reasons)
So it is, in effect, voting.
In Athens when a matter was to be discussed by the demos, ropes soaked in purple were swung through the agora.
Possibly hard on the non-citizens.
@strypey The no confidence option is inherent in any secret ballot system. I may be compelled to take my ballot papers to the booth, and then put them in the box, but nobody gets to see what I do with them in the booth. It is thus always still possible for me to mark them with the classic no confidence dick-and-balls before putting them in the box.
But that's not really the point. The point is to get people who just can't be arsed off the couch. Most of them will then go ahead and vote. Those who *truly object* to every single choice are free to dick and balls it as they like.
@strypey
Compulsory attendance, then.
There is no way to stop spoiled ballots, but it is possible to counteract laziness and oppose vote-supression.
Defenders of electoral democracy tell is it gives us meaningful choices. Not just a choice between this seasons flavours of despotism, pre-selected by capitalists.
If that's true, then 'compulsory voting' is a self-contradiction. Just like 'libertarian slavery' or 'voluntary authoritarianism'.
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