On June 13, Belgium will have its first federal level elections since I became a citizen, and as voting is compulsory, I have been giving some thought to politics here for a change
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>>and as voting is compulsory,<< Mildly off-topic, but how is this enforced and can you just go and spoil your ballot? I got into several rows after the GB election that compulsary voting is evil (I don't think it is, other people do), and I'm interested in how countries work their systems.
I used to favour compulsory voting, having now looked at the details, I'm now opposed to it.
In the UK, low turnout appears to be caused not by apathy, but by concentration on marginal constituencies; turnout in a 'safe' Labour seat is much lower than turnout in a tight marginal. Tory seats also see a turnout decline in safer seats, but Tory voters (being older and wealthier on average) have a higher tendency to vote.
There are few safe LD seats, but their decline is somewhere between the two.
I'd rather change the system of voting to abolish safe seats and make parties spread campaigning resources out everywhere first; that's likely, over time, to increase turnout more. And it'll also allow for a greater diversity of parties to compete effectively, also increasing turnout.
Compulsory voting: fairly small fine if you don't show up to vote, unless you can get a note from your doctor or your employer to certify that you couldn't have made it to the polling station.
You can cast a blank vote, or spoil your vote in some other way (they are tallied separately).
Thanks for this. The burka bans in France and Belgium disturb me deeply; I'm glad I know someone who's in a position to take action against it, however small.
Yes, please report back with your responses. This entire issue is so absurd.. especially when it turns out there's only 30 burka wearing women in the entire country!
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Crazy(with your massive amounts of spare time, eh?)Soph
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In the UK, low turnout appears to be caused not by apathy, but by concentration on marginal constituencies; turnout in a 'safe' Labour seat is much lower than turnout in a tight marginal. Tory seats also see a turnout decline in safer seats, but Tory voters (being older and wealthier on average) have a higher tendency to vote.
There are few safe LD seats, but their decline is somewhere between the two.
I'd rather change the system of voting to abolish safe seats and make parties spread campaigning resources out everywhere first; that's likely, over time, to increase turnout more. And it'll also allow for a greater diversity of parties to compete effectively, also increasing turnout.
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You can cast a blank vote, or spoil your vote in some other way (they are tallied separately).
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Would've been interesting to test whether cannibalism (with no murder or any other crime involved) is protected by human right commitments.
Unfortunately the horrors of colonialism have erased this wonderful form of cultural expression. How sad.
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