Editing Compulsory voting (section)

== History ==
===Antiquity===
[[Athenian democracy]] held that it was every Athenian citizen's duty to participate in decision-making, but attendance at the assembly was voluntary. Sometimes there was some form of social [[wiktionary:opprobrium|opprobrium]] to those not participating, particularly if they were engaging in other public activity at the time of the assembly. For example, [[Aristophanes]]'s comedy ''[[Acharnians]]'' 17–22, in the 5th century BC, shows public slaves herding citizens from the [[agora]] into the assembly meeting place (''[[Pnyx]]'') with a red-stained rope. Those with red on their clothes were fined.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NWO2BQAAQBAJ&q=malkopoulou|title=The History of Compulsory Voting in Europe: Democracy's Duty?|first=Anthoula|last=Malkopoulou|date=5 December 2014|publisher=Routledge|access-date= 28 March 2018|via=Google Books|isbn=978-1-317-69333-8}}</ref> This usually happens if fewer than 6,000 people were in attendance, and more were needed for the assembly to continue.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=NWO2BQAAQBAJ&q=malkopoulou Ibid.] pp.49–52</ref>

In the [[Roman Republic]], the legitimacy of the form of government known as ''[[res publica]],'' which entrusted the powers of sovereignty to an elected aristocracy, was most evident in the Roman right to ''[[Suffrage|suffragium]]''.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=Elections in the late Roman Republic: how did they work? |url=https://www.historyextra.com/period/roman/elections-in-the-late-roman-republic-how-did-they-work/ |access-date=2022-10-06 |website=HistoryExtra |language=en}}</ref> [[Cicero]] argues that the right to vote provided [[Roman citizenship|Roman citizens]] with a certain degree of [[Public participation (decision making)|political participation]], thereby guaranteeing their ''de facto'' ownership of their property, which they could administer as they wished. In practice, voting was conducted only in Rome, either in the [[Campus Martius]] or in the [[Roman Forum|Forum]], and not many citizens would have been able to afford the journey or take time off to vote.<ref>{{Cite web |title=This Is How the Romans Voted in the Roman Republic |url=https://www.thoughtco.com/how-romans-voted-in-roman-republic-120890 |access-date=2022-10-06 |website=ThoughtCo |language=en}}</ref> In addition, contrary to Greek custom, there was no economic compensation for voting; however, Cicero mentions an election that could not continue because of particularly low [[voter turnout]], requiring a temporary [[Conscription|draft]] to be implemented, though it is unclear if this was an exceptional case.<ref name=":3" />

===Modern era===
From the 19th century onward a relatively small number of democracies have introduced compulsory voting at one time or another. From 1862 to 1998, compulsory voting was enacted in 20 democracies, most of which were in Western Europe or Latin America.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Meguid |first1=Bonnie M. |last2=Helmke |first2=Gretchen |date=2007 |title=Endogenous Institutions: The Origins of Compulsory Voting Laws |language=en |s2cid=10665132}}</ref> [[Belgium]] has the oldest extant compulsory voting system which was introduced in 1893 for men,<ref>{{cite journal|jstor=1010372|title=Compulsory Voting in Belgium|first=A.|last=Nerincx|date=28 March 2018|journal=The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science|volume=18|issue=2|pages=87–90|doi=10.1177/000271620101800204|s2cid=144588223}}</ref> and in 1948 for women.<ref>{{cite journal|title=The achievement of female suffrage in Europe: on women's citizenship|first=R.|last=Rubio-Marin|date=1 January 2014|journal=International Journal of Constitutional Law|volume=12|issue=1|pages=4–34|doi=10.1093/icon/mot067|doi-access=free}}</ref>

Compulsory voting for national elections was introduced in Australia in 1924, with states and territories passing their own compulsory voting laws at various times.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.aec.gov.au/About_AEC/Publications/voting/index.htm |title=Compulsory voting in Australia |publisher=Australian Electoral Commission |access-date=23 December 2019}}</ref> Voluntary voting in Australia before 1924 accounted between 47% and 78% turnout of eligible voters. Following the introduction of compulsory federal voting in 1924 this figure increased to between 91% and 96%,<ref>{{cite web |title=Who voted in previous referendums and elections |url=http://www.aec.gov.au/Elections/Australian_Electoral_History/Voter_Turnout.htm#fn |access-date=28 March 2018 |website=Australian Electoral Commission}}</ref> with only 5% of eligible voters accounted as not enrolled.<ref>{{cite web|title=2016 federal election Key facts and figures|url=http://www.aec.gov.au/Elections/Federal_Elections/2016/key-facts.htm|access-date=28 March 2018|website=Australian Electoral Commission}}</ref> The Netherlands and Venezuela are among several countries that have moved from compulsory to voluntary voting, in 1967 and 1993 respectively.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Compulsory Voting – International IDEA |url=https://www.idea.int/data-tools/data/voter-turnout/compulsory-voting |access-date=2019-05-05 |website=www.idea.int}}< Turnout in the Netherlands decreased from 95% to around 80%.<nowiki><ref></nowiki>{{Cite web |title=Netherlands {{!}} International IDEA |url=https://www.idea.int/data-tools/country-view/227/40 |access-date=2023-01-14 |website=www.idea.int}}</ref> Venezuela saw turnout drop from 82% to 61% in 1993 once compulsion was removed.<ref name=":9">{{Cite web |title=Venezuela {{!}} International IDEA |url=https://www.idea.int/data-tools/country-view/300/40 |access-date=2023-01-14 |website=www.idea.int}}</ref>