Argument Against Mandatory Voting In Canada

Mandatory Voting

Voting is a privilege granted to citizens of democratic countries. According to the Parliament of Canada, “all eligible citizens have the right to participate, either directly or indirectly, in making the decisions that affect them. Canadian citizens normally elect someone to represent them in making decisions at the different levels of government.” Despite having the right to vote, many Canadians do not exert their duty as citizens, leading some to think that voting should be made mandatory in order to prevent a dictatorship. Voting is the foundation of democracy; however, the participation rate in Canada has been decreasing since the 1960s. The Canadian parliament came up with Bill S-22 to “amend the Canada Elections Act”

by making voting compulsory. Fortunately, this bill did not become a law. Although voting should be encouraged, it should not be made mandatory.

Voting should remain a privilege that citizens choose whether or not to benefit from it. Voting should not be part of the obligations of a citizen. In fact, the first article in Fundamental Freedoms section of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the “freedom of religion, of thought, of expression, of the press and of peaceful assembly.” In fact, Russo-British political theorist Isaiah Berlin defined two types of freedom: positive and negative freedom. Negative liberty is being free from restrictions while positive liberty is being capable to achieve a goal (Carter). As freedom of speech allows individuals to express their ideologies openly, the concept of negative freedom permits someone to abstain from voting because no external constraints ought to act upon that person. The third article in Democratic Rights part of the Charter further adds that one has the “right to vote in an election.” By imposing mandatory voting, the government would contradict this charter. If voting is a fundamental right, it cannot be a duty. Citizens have the responsibility to vote, but not the obligation to do so. Therefore, because Canadian nationals are free to express their opinion, they are also free from the obligation to participate in political activities such as voting.

Many believe that low voting rates can hurt democracy.

In fact, according to Elections Canada, during the 2011 federal elections, only 61.1% of Canadians exerted their duty as citizen. Hence, some think compulsory voting can remediate the situation. However, mandatory voting is what really could hurt democracy. By forcing every eligible voter to go to the polls, misinformed voters will randomly cast their ballot. Sceptics may believe that by fining individuals who refuse to go to the polls, there will be less ignorant voters. For example, in Australia, where voting is compulsory, Australians who do not cast their ballots have to “pay a 20$ penalty” (Australian Electoral Commission). However, by financially penalising citizens who do not exert their duty, many will be so dissatisfied by the incumbent government that they will simply vote for a party that would not make voting an obligation. These people would ignore the party’s other policies instead of being informed on all the challenges that the country faces and how each party plans on solving them. Nonetheless, the elections are an occasion to elect a leader whose ideologies on many aspects, from immigration to the environment, matches the voter’s most. As a responsible voter, one has to know the policies of each party and has to try to obtain enough “social-scientific knowledge to [assess] these positions” (Brennan 11), which takes a lot of time. Therefore, compulsory voting would make voters more informed, but only on a narrow aspect while ignoring the other issues that should be taken into consideration when choosing the party they will vote for. All in all, mandatory voting would hurt democracy despite the higher participation

rate.

Contrary to the belief a democratic country would benefit from it, compulsory voting will simply contravene the Charter by turning the right and the freedom to vote into an obligation and will reduce the quality of the results. Ultimately, mandatory voting will lead to higher participation rate, but not a better government.