The third part of this series on democracy and independence looks at one of the more important elements: elections and voting.
As mentioned in Part I, low turnouts in Welsh elections are something that has long been believed to undermine the legitimacy of elections and democracy more generally.
The idea of compulsory voting being introduced in Wales has been debated in the Senedd – one of the keenest proponents being Plaid Cymru’s Adam Price MS.
He tabled a debate on a proposed backbench Members Bill in 2023 which proposed making voting a “civic duty”, with a “none of the above” option included on ballot papers and an “appropriate sanction” for not voting. His motion was approved by 20-12 with 20 abstentions.
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There was support for the idea in principle across all parties – though all but one Tory MS voted against it (along with Labour’s Alun Davies) and most Welsh Government MSs abstained.
The Welsh Government’s response – via the Counsel General, Mick Antoniw – was that reforming the electoral system was the priority. Trying to pass a law for compulsory voting would also need “careful consideration” as there are potential human rights issues. It’s not entirely clear if the Senedd have the power to bring in compulsory voting either (similar to challenges around gender quotas – Part IV).
With independence, the issue of the powers wouldn’t be a problem, though human rights issues could remain.
How have other nations introduced compulsory voting?
There are three broad categories:
- Enforced (Australia, Bolivia, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay) – Voting is compulsory and people who don’t vote are prosecuted. This is usually in the form of a fine and/or loss of civil privileges, such as being barred from using certain public services. If you count North Korean elections as being legitimately democratic, then not voting could prove fatal.
- Enforced in principle, but not in practice (Belgium, Singapore, Egypt) – In these situations, there’s usually a punishment for not voting, but it’s rarely enforced. Or there’s a civic penalty that’s unlikely to seriously disadvantage someone (i.e. being struck off the electoral register).
- Soft touch/no enforcement (Paraguay, Greece, Mexico, Thailand, Costa Rica) – Voting is either described as a constitutional duty or is “officially” compulsory, but it’s neither enforced nor punished.
How could Wales introduce compulsory voting?
You would assume it would be introduced as an electoral reform law.
I doubt there would be a referendum on it. However, as it alters the constitution to compel the public to do something there’s an argument that it should be subject to a referendum. There would need to be a massive public information campaign, regardless – that would likely cost several million pounds.
One other main issue is, of course, whether this would be enforced.
It’ll be straightforward to work out who doesn’t vote. It would presumably be for local government democratic services departments to chase up non-voters.
You would expect the first instance to result in a written warning and fines to be issued for all instances after that; assuming the Senedd wants to go down the road of full enforcement.
De-registering someone from voting (as a penalty) won’t work as we’re moving to automatic voter registration in Wales anyway.
Any fines would need to be high enough to act as a deterrence, but low enough that it doesn’t cause undue hardship. Anything between £10-50 would be the range.
Other questions would include what the legitimate excuses would be for not voting, as well as what happens to people who refuse to pay the fines – do they go to court to face even higher fines? If there’s a critical mass of people who refuse to vote, would that clog up the courts? Or would it be best dealt with via a more informal tribunal?
