compulsory voting

(noun)

Compulsory voting is a system in which electors are obliged to vote in elections or attend a polling place on voting day. If an eligible voter does not attend a polling place, he or she may be subject to punitive measures, such as fines, community service, or perhaps imprisonment if fines are unpaid or community service not performed.

Related Terms

  • salience
  • suffrage
  • election

Examples of compulsory voting in the following topics:

  • Attempts to Improve Voter Turnout

    • Furthermore, compulsory voting may infringe on other rights.
    • Compulsory voting ensures a large voter turnout.
    • Red: Compulsory voting, enforced.
    • Pink: Compulsory voting, not enforced.
    • Orange: Compulsory voting, enforced (only men).
  • The Purpose of Elections

    • The question of who may vote is a central issue in elections.
    • Suffrage is the right to vote gained through the democratic process.
    • Citizens become eligible to vote after reaching the voting age, which is typically eighteen years old as of 2012 in the United States.
    • In some countries, voting is required by law.
    • Compulsory voting is a system in which electors are obliged to vote in elections or attend a polling place on voting day.
  • Factors Affecting Voter Turnout

    • When asked why they do not vote, many people report that they have too little free time.
    • Making voting compulsory has a direct and dramatic effect on turnout.
    • Simply making it easier for candidates to stand through easier nomination rules is believed to increase voting.
    • Ease of voting is a factor in rates of turnout.
    • This suppression can be in the form of unfair tests or requirements to vote.
  • The Eugenics

    • The first state to introduce a compulsory sterilization bill was Michigan in 1897, but the proposed law failed to garner enough votes by legislators to be adopted.
    • In 1907, Indiana passed the first eugenics-based compulsory sterilization law in the world.
    • Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of a Virginia law allowing for the compulsory sterilization of patients of state mental institutions in 1927.
  • Child Labor

    • These laws were often paired with compulsory education laws which were designed to keep children in school and out of the paid labor market until a specified age (usually 12, 14, or 16 years.)
    • Alongside the abolition of child labor, compulsory education laws also kept children out of abusive labor conditions.
    • However, by 1900, 34 states had compulsory schooling laws, 4 of which were in the South. 30 states with compulsory schooling laws required attendance until age 14 (or higher).
  • The Varieties of Progressivism

    • Purification to eliminate waste and corruption was a powerful element, as well as the Progressives' support of worker compensation, improved child labor laws, minimum wage legislation, a support for a maximum hours that workers could work for, graduated income tax and allowed women the right to vote.
    • Modernization of society, they believed, necessitated the compulsory education of all children, even if the parents objected.
  • Features of Progressivism

    • Also during this era, many states passed compulsory schooling laws; new emphasis was place on hygiene, health and physical education.
  • Culture in Classical Sparta

    • The gerousia discussed high state policy decisions then proposed action alternatives to the damos, a collective body of Spartan citizenry, who would then select one of the options by voting.
    • At age 20, the Spartan citizen began his membership in one of the syssitia (dining messes or clubs), which were composed of about 15 members each and were compulsory.
    • Although Helots did not have voting rights, they otherwise enjoyed a relatively privileged position in comparison to slave populations in other Greek city-states.
  • Public Choice: Median Voters and Inefficient Voting Outcomes

    • Public choice may not lead to an economically efficient outcomes due to who votes, why they vote, and in what system they vote.
    • Common voting systems include majority rule, proportional representation, or plurality voting.
    • The study of voting systems is called voting theory.
    • Voting theory is a subfield of economics.
    • An example of a voting paradox can be seen in a simple voting scenario.
  • Voting Right

    • Common stock can also be referred to as a "voting share. " Common stock usually carries with it the right to vote on business entity matters, such as electing the board of directors, establishing corporate objectives and policy, and stock splits.
    • However, common stock can be broken into voting and non-voting classes.
    • The matters that a stockholder gets to vote on vary from company to company.
    • In many cases, the shareholder will be able to vote for members of a company board of directors and, in general, each share gets a vote as opposed to each shareholder.
    • Shareholders with the right to vote will have numerous options in how to make their voice heard with regards to voting matters should they choose to.
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