Think tank suggests compulsory voting for eligible British citizens

Think tank suggests compulsory voting for eligible British citizens

	Published : Mon, 01 May 2006 12:35 By : David Simms Print this Story

LONDON: Voting must be made compulsory for all eligible British citizens, proposes the Institute for Public Policy and Research, a powerful think tank. And the suggestion has received backing from at least two cabinet ministers.

The institute, quoting prevailing laws in more than 30 countries, including Australia and Belgium, said turnout at polling stations for voting should be made mandatory. Any person failing to exercise his voting rights in local, regional or national level elections without a valid reason should be punished with fines, says the institute.

Commons leader Geoff Hoon and Northern Ireland secretary Peter Hain supported the radical suggestion.

The institute also suggested that the voters should be offered an option "none of the above" in order to allow them not to vote for any of the candidates in the fray in case they prefer to do so.

The suggestion has come in as local elections are being held in London Thursday. The proportion of voters casting their votes in the London elections had fallen to 32 per cent in 2002 from 48 per cent in 1990. Similarly, the last two the general elections saw 59 per cent and 61 per cent of the voters turning at the polling booths.

Favouring the suggestion, Hoon said the country has to consider radical measures to "renew our democracy . . . I personally support IPPR's case for compulsory voting, based strongly on international evidence".

Hain said he supported the recommendation, which aimed to design a voting system that regards "participation in the democratic process as a civic duty, like jury service".

The institute's report cited instances in Australia and Belgium, where turnout has averaged around 90 per cent as voting is compulsory there. However, in Britain, an unfortunate tendency has been for the young and the poor not to vote, "creating a minority of the population who are disconnected from politics and in effect disenfranchised."

The report pointed out that Liverpool Riverside, which is considered the most poor among the constituencies in Britain, had the poorest turnout in both the 2001 and 2005 general elections. Less than half had cast their votes in both the elections.

It also indicated that young people are not picking up the voting habit. Turnout among those who attained the age of 18 in 1992 has fallen with each subsequent election and at a faster rate than older generations.