The former leader of the Labour Party, Neil Kinnock, has suggested that voting should be made compulsory, with a £10 fine for anybody who does not vote. The suggestion comes after the Representation of the People Bill – the legislation that will pave the way for the lowering of the voting age to 16 – heads to committee stage in the House of Lords after passing second reading.
Turnout for general elections in the UK has steadily declined over recent decades. Between 1945 and 1997, the average turnout for elections was 76.3%, but in the twenty-first century this has fallen to 64%. The 2024 UK General Election saw turnout fall below 60% for only the second time since 1918.
In announcing his position, Kinnock, who previously served as the UK’s EU Commissioner, said, “I lived for 10 years in Belgium and saw compulsory voting in practice. The high turnouts and extent of engagement in the democratic process strongly assists democracy in a country with complex ethnic and political arrangements”. The average turnout for elections in Belgium this century is around 90%.
A low turnout could be argued to negatively affect the legitimacy of governments. For example, Labour won the 2024 election with 33.7% of the vote on a turnout of 59.7%. This means that Labour was backed by just 20% of registered voters. Whilst the ‘winner’s bonus’ caused by first-past-the-post will regularly mean that majority governments are returned with less than half of the total vote, compulsory voting would lead to higher turnout and therefore greater backing for the winner.
This is particularly important once it is considered that turnout is not uniform across the country. Instead, certain groups are generally less likely to vote, such as younger people and the socially disadvantaged. The effect of this is that parties may feel more prepared to introduce policies to their detriment, without fear of political repercussions. For example, older people (the most likely to vote) see their pensions rise in line with the triple lock, while students have seen tuition fees treble over the past 20 years. Compulsory voting would help to ensure that all demographics turn out to vote, and therefore ensure parties are more mindful of their needs.
Whilst there are compelling arguments in favour of compulsory voting, it can also be argued that it is simply a citizen’s right not to vote, as a means of protesting against the choice on offer. Moreover, forcing people to vote may lead to uninformed or random voting, which doesn’t accurately reflect the wants or voters. Proponents of compulsory voting could rebut this by suggesting non-voters could simply spoi their ballot by not marking it, thereby still registering their protest. In addition, requiring people to vote would, in time, lead to a more informed electorate.
It remains to be seen whether the government will support the proposed amendment to the bill. Given the complexities and challenges the bill will already present, including lowering the voting age and addressing concerns around political donations, it is unlikely the amendment will be supported on this occasion. However, as with electoral reform, there will always be strong support for the proposal from some quarters.