Editing Compulsory voting (section)

== Impact ==
A 2015 study of a Swiss canton where compulsory voting was enforced found that compulsory voting significantly increased electoral support for leftist policy positions in referendums by up to 20 percentage points.<ref>{{Cite journal|title = Does Compulsory Voting Increase Support for Leftist Policy?|journal = American Journal of Political Science|date = 2015-10-01|issn = 1540-5907|pages = 752–767|doi = 10.1111/ajps.12224|first1 = Michael M.|last1 = Bechtel|first2 = Dominik|last2 = Hangartner|first3 = Lukas|last3 = Schmid|volume=60|issue = 3|url = http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/68646/1/Hangartner_Compulsory%20voting_2016.pdf}}</ref> A 2008 study found that the effects of universal turnout in the United States would likely be small in national elections, but that universal turnout could matter in close elections, such as the presidential elections of [[2000 United States presidential election|2000]] and [[2004 United States presidential election|2004]].<ref>{{Cite journal|title = If Everyone Had Voted, Would Bubba and Dubya Have Won?|journal = Presidential Studies Quarterly|date = 2008-09-01|issn = 1741-5705|pages = 521–539|volume = 38|issue = 3|doi = 10.1111/j.1741-5705.2008.02659.x|author1-link=John M. Sides|first1 = John|last1 = Sides|first2 = Eric|last2 = Schickler|first3 = Jack|last3 = Citrin|author-link3=Jack Citrin|citeseerx = 10.1.1.489.5858}}</ref> In the United States, [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrats]] would most likely fare better under universal voting, as nonvoters are generally more Democratic, but due to the rarity of close [[elections in the United States]], universal voting would change "very few election outcomes".<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Citrin|first1=Jack|last2=Schickler|first2=Eric|last3=Sides|first3=John|date=2003-01-01|title=What if Everyone Voted? Simulating the Impact of Increased Turnout in Senate Elections|journal=American Journal of Political Science|language=en|volume=47|issue=1|pages=75–90|doi=10.1111/1540-5907.00006|issn=1540-5907|citeseerx=10.1.1.591.3016}}</ref> 

2011 research on compulsory voting in Australia found that it increased the vote shares and seat shares of the [[Australian Labor Party]] by 7 to 10 percentage points and led to greater pension spending at the national level.<ref>{{Cite journal|title = Electoral and Policy Consequences of Voter Turnout: Evidence from Compulsory Voting in Australia|ssrn = 1816649|date = 2011-04-23|doi = 10.2139/ssrn.1816649|first = Anthony|last = Fowler Electronic Journal|s2cid = 967975}}</ref> While weakly enforced compulsory voting in Austria increased overall turnout by roughly 10 percentage points, there is "no evidence that this change in turnout affected government spending patterns (in levels or composition) or electoral outcomes."<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Hoffman|first1=Mitchell|last2=León|first2=Gianmarco|last3=Lombardi|first3=María|title=Compulsory voting, turnout, and government spending: Evidence from Austria|journal=Journal of Public Economics|doi=10.1016/j.jpubeco.2016.10.002|volume=145|pages=103–115|date=January 2017|s2cid=145033670|url=http://www.nber.org/papers/w22221.pdf}}</ref> 

A 2016 study found that compulsory voting reduces the gender gap in electoral engagement in several ways.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Córdova|first1=Abby|last2=Rangel|first2=Gabriela|date=2016-06-20|title=Addressing the Gender Gap The Effect of Compulsory Voting on Women's Electoral Engagement|journal=Comparative Political Studies|volume=50|issue=2|language=en|pages=264–290|doi=10.1177/0010414016655537|s2cid=156881765|issn=0010-4140}}</ref> A 2016 study of the Netherlands found that the abolition of compulsory voting increased the vote share of Dutch social democratic parties while reducing the vote share of "minor and extreme parties".<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Miller|first1=Peter|last2=Dassonneville|first2=Ruth|date=2016-12-01|title=High turnout in the Low Countries: Partisan effects of the abolition of compulsory voting in the Netherlands|journal=Electoral Studies|volume=44|pages=132–143|doi=10.1016/j.electstud.2016.07.009}}</ref> 2016 research suggests that higher rates of voter turnout lead to higher top tax rates.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://epub.ub.uni-muenchen.de/29636/|title=Turning Out for Redistribution: The Effect of Voter Turnout on Top Marginal Tax Rates.|publisher=Universitätsbibliothek der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München|doi=10.5282/ubm/epub.29636|last1=Sabet|first1=Navid|year=2016|s2cid=15974685 }}</ref> A 2024 study found that compulsory voting can reduce political polarization and push political parties towards the preferences of the median voter by eliminating the ability of extremist partisans to threaten to abstain from voting, which pressures parties to adopt policies to appease those voters.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Oprea |first1=Alexandra |last2=Martin |first2=Lucy |last3=Brennan |first3=Geoffrey H. |date=2024 |title=Moving toward the Median: Compulsory Voting and Political Polarization |journal=American Political Science Review |volume=118 |issue=4 |pages=1951–1965 |language=en |doi=10.1017/S0003055423001399 |issn=0003-0554|doi-access=free }}</ref>