Compulsory Voting in Local Government?

Hi all,

Compulsory voting in local government elections has been a hot topic, yet again, that the annual Local Government Association of Tasmania (LGAT)'s Conference currently being held in Hobart  ...and now at the Tasmanian Young Labor 2011 Conference where it appear that they are calling for compulsory voting.

Dr Kevin Bonham from the Tasmanian Times wrote a provative piece in 2009 advocating against compusory voting here - http://tasmaniantimes.com/index.php/article/councils-a-case-against-compulsory-voting.

Former Premier David Bartlett was bold enough to address the 2008 LGAT conference and tell them that he felt that compulsory voting was "Ultimately, it is not a question of money but of representation". 

I'm yet to be convinced either way but I'm definitely open to the idea.  A longer-term councillor said to me last year that the current voting system saves money (compared to compulsory voting) and it does not force those who are not interested in local government to vote in something that they have no interest in.  I discussed with him that all people living in a municipality have an interest, even if indirectly, and that they have their chance to have their say.  He argued that they do have the chance but many don't exercise this.  Nb. Only 50-60% of people in municipalities exercise this right to vote.

I find this interesting as I often hear "BLOODY COUNCIL" but when I ask them did you vote I often get a no.  My thoughts are that you get what you vote for (or don't vote for).  There's a lot of argument going on in the media around the quality of councillors in the North-West and that they should be voted out - with just over half of the people voting you'll get the people that the 50-odd% vote for.  I'd love to know how I could get my hands on the data to see who votes to identify areas/demographics etc of non-voters.  A new candidate would be clever to try and tap into this non-voter base.  It worked well for me :)

I decided to look unbiasedly at this by conducting a simple SWOT analysis - looking at the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of bringing in compulsory voting (it's a quick one - there's much more I could have looked at).

Strengths:

• At present, only just over half of the residents in municipalities have a say which means that councils miss out on the view of the non-voters
• There is a lack of engagement with the non-voters at present
• The Labor party has expressed interest in the concept
• By having all people vote you 'should' have a better guide toward planning the future of the municipalities
• Councils are not obtaining a council that is representative of the whole community - you currently only get who the 50-odd% voted for and this can have a demographic bias

Weaknesses:

• The current system permits the 'engaged' to exercise their right to be engaged and those who don't want to exercise this don't have to (I guess though that those forced to vote can simply post in a blank one!)
• Those who are not interested in local governance do not have major impacts on the votes of those who are
• A compulsory model is much more expensive
• A potential increase in those who vote purely on name recognition (these are people who vote without much idea of the candidates, if any, so vote on for people who they've heard of) may turn the election back to a popularity vote rather than a 'quality vote'
• A potential increase in party politics
• A potential increase in big $$$ being spent on campaigns which can reduce social equity (I can see Adam Brooks style campaigns in small communities)
• Potential for an increase in Donkey Voting or Informal Voting

Oppotunities:

• Councils can use this as a lever to actively promote to people the value of participating in elections
• It can be used as an education process to increase interest in local government
• Facilitates an opportunity for increased intergenerational representation in local government
• If local government receives Constitutional Recognition, as it's campaigning for, then the issue of compulsory voting is much more important as the Australian Government will be able to directly fund local government rather than going through state governments all the time - I know that I'd want a representative council to bargain for money from the Feds.

Threats:

• Being cynical, there is a threat to the seats of some councillors who survive on the basis that their current supporter base votes - some councillors may lose their seat if compulsory voting was brought in as their voter base may be diluted
• An increase in Labor, Liberal and Green candidates - personally, I believe that party politics should stay out of local government - those voting on party lines are required to vote according to party policies rather than purely on the facts put in front of them - it could compromise the candidate (I know that it would compromise me)... but this is up to the voters to decide
• Some people may become pissed off that they have to vote and become more disenfranchised

As I said... this was just a basic 15 minute SWOT.  I'm sure that there's many more reasons for and against.

Personally, anything that increases engagement and interest in the happenings of local government and creates intergenerational equity is a goer in my books.  Compulsory voting looks like it could do it but, man, would it need to be done well otherwise it could head in the opposite direction fast.  I can see that there would need to be a community education process, appropriate resourcing to support it's implementation, strong media imformation and the introduction of protocols/laws etc to minimise abuse by candidates in elections.

Well... LGAT have knocked it back for another year and the State Government seems to not want to get involved in the touchy subject of the structure of local government in Tasmania (even if they've come out supporting compulsory voting).

In the meantime... I encourage people to start consider standing for local government in the 2011 elections.  It's a rewarding experience even if you do get a bit of an ear-bashing in the aisles of Woolies or by the media now and again (this is only minor compared to the influence and change that you can make). You get to have a BIG VOICE toward the future of your municipality.  Rather than sitting back... get in an be heard.

Have fun!  Cheers!

CJH