Editing Compulsory voting (section)

===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" />