Right or Duty? Compulsory Voting in Australia

Sally Warhaft, Kim Rubenstein and Judith Brett In a democracy, should voting be a citizen’s right or a citizen’s duty? Australia is one of a small number of countries – including Argentina and Egypt – with mandatory voting. Australia is rare, within this small group of nations, in imposing penalties on citizens who fail to turn up to vote. Compulsory voting has been in place here since 1924 and it sets us apart from other advanced democracies. Less than 60% of the US voting-age population cast ballots in the 2016 presidential election. For this conversation, we bring together citizenship law expert Kim Rubenstein and the eminent historian Judith Brett, author of From Secret Ballot to Democracy Sausage: How Australia Got Compulsory Voting. They trace the history of our voting system and examine how it’s shaped the tenor of our debates and our sense of ourselves and our representatives – plus, how the system may yet change. With Sally Warhaft, they discuss donkey votes, ballot boxes, barbeques and the wide-ranging implications of compulsory participation. Related listening: Housekeeping Podcast episode The Wheeler Centre Housekeeping #1: Sizzle / Australia 3 Jun 2016 Podcast episode The Wheeler Centre Housekeeping #2: ID / Government 10 Jun 2016 Podcast episode The Wheeler Centre Housekeeping #3: No-Shows / Australian politics 17 Jun 2016 Podcast episode The Wheeler Centre Housekeeping #4: Scrutiny / Government 27 Jun 2016 Podcast episode The Wheeler Centre Housekeeping #5: Locked Out / Crime 30 Jun 2016 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.