Why compulsory voting works in Australia and Scotland needs it too – George Foulkes
Turnout in Scottish elections is dire and getting worse, but there is a solution
When I first became an MP for a seat in south-west Scotland, it was 1979. Quite a lot has changed since then – especially the turnout in elections. Back then 80 per cent of eligible adults in my constituency cast a vote. Now that figure is around 50 per cent.
What we have witnessed both in Westminster and Holyrood elections is a perilous decline. Not only is Scottish turnout low – compared with 89 per cent in nearby Belgium – it is dangerously unbalanced. It won’t shock you to know that, at the last Holyrood election, richer areas saw higher turnouts than poorer ones.
In fact, you can literally trace turnout in Scotland against life expectancy. As one political observer noted: “The poorer you are, the shorter you will live, and the less likely you are to vote in elections.”
Tragically, we know this is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Where fewer votes are cast, political focus is less. And worse, the economic and social interests of those who do vote are prioritised.
Older, richer homeowners of Scotland rejoice! But for the 50 per cent who choose to sit out elections, their interests are wilfully ignored. It means, as Charles White from the Campaign for Compulsory Voting said, Scottish politics is “stuck in aspic”.
Not singing Kumbaya
Even topics which take up so much time in our politics, like the thorny issue of the Union, are affected. The SNP, in fact, should be concerned by the low turnout figures.
How can the Scottish Government speak of a “mandate” from the public when our turnout remains embarrassingly unrepresentative? And how can Scotland’s voice be heard on issues as seismic as our very identity, if half of all eligible adults would rather sit out an election cycle than cast a ballot?
There is another way, and unless the SNP are frit, they should explore it. Australian-style compulsory voting is not wishful thinking and it’s certainly not singing Kumbaya by a campfire.
Election results reflect the nation
A majority of Scots back making voting mandatory at elections. And why wouldn’t they? Australia has had an equivalent law for more than 100 years.
Aussies of the political left and right are proud that their civic identity is stronger than almost anywhere in the world – election days are celebrated moments for a community, and results are reflective of a whole nation.
In Australia, where younger voters turn out in equal numbers to their fellow older citizens, the government has a motivation to grasp the nettle on controversial issues.
Radical tax changes
The housing crisis Down Under isn’t treated with the same warm words served up by our politicians. The Australian Labour party passed a budget just last month which has already begun taking out the heat from the housing market. Insulated from the backlash amongst homeowners, the federal government will be rewarded at the ballot box by young Australians.
Imagine a Scottish party being confident enough in the electoral turnout of young renters that radical tax changes could be explored. It’s hard to do. And with good reason. Turnout is stubbornly low amongst the younger generation.
We have got to change this. Our sluggish economy and stultified politics needs it. And the public agree. Let’s hope Holyrood listens.
The Rt Hon Lord George Foulkes of Cumnock is Labour life peer
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