Compulsory Voting Reduces Corruption in Politics

Compulsory voting helps to alleviate politicization of politics, especially within the EU.
Anthoula Malkopoulou, Visiting Fellow at the Centre for European Policy Studies in Brussels, July 2009, Lost Voters: Participation in EU elections and the case for compulsory voting, p. 4. Finally, participation in elections is undermined by the increase of alternative types of politicisation. These can take the form of lobbying activities and civil society activism, especially in the case of the EU. Non-governmental organisations often compete with political parties for public attention and membership, and systematically portray elections as too passive a form of political participation. This only adds to the perception that EU parties are rigid structures with an old-fashioned working style, which prevents them from moving flexibly across national borders and reaching out to a European audience.

Compulsory voting benefits elections by reducing the amount of political influence money has on campaigns while bringing in state revenue .
Anthoula Malkopoulou, Visiting Fellow at the Centre for European Policy Studies in Brussels, July 2009, Lost Voters: Participation in EU elections and the case for compulsory voting, p. 11. Mandatory voting also offers some advantages for election finances. It is said to improve the quality of campaigning, as candidates can concentrate on issues rather than on encouraging voters to attend the polls. In this sense, it also decreases campaign spending and completely eliminates the need to invest in voter awareness. What is more, as the Swiss case demonstrates, mandatory voting can create significant income for the state administration (Gratschew, 2008). For example, even if the fines are low in Schaffhausen, the frequency of elections and referenda per year and the high number of citizens who do not show up without providing justification raises considerable sums that give a small injection to the public budget. Such revenues could be recycled as state subsidies for political parties.

Compulsory Voting Reduces Inequality

Compulsory voting helps to eliminate various voter suppression strategies.

Robert Guest, Business Editor for the Economist and former correspondent for the Daily Telegraph, September 28, 2012, "If America had Compulsory Voting, Would Democrats Win Every Election?" The Economist, http://www.economist.com/blogs/lexington/2012/09/art-voter-turnout (accessed 8/15/13) Democrats are pretty convinced that voter suppression is precisely what their Republican foes are up to, via a new law (currently facing legal challenges before the courts) that requires voters to show an up-to-date identity card with a photograph and expiry date, issued by one of a list of official authorities. To Democrats and a coalition of civil-liberties and civil-rights groups, the idea is to disenfranchise those voters most likely to lack a drivers' license or other official ID, namely low-

income black and Hispanic residents of Philadelphia, where many locals use public transport and do not drive, as well as the elderly in that city.

Voter suppression strategies become mute with compulsory voting, and other alternatives are not enough.
Sean Matsler, University of Southern California Law School B.A., 2003, Compulsory Voting in America, p. 958-959. Inconvenient voter registration procedures, which tend to suppress voter registration, are an oft-cited culprit for low voter turnout but are not entirely to blame. Proof of this lies in the fact that affirmative and well-meaning measures undertaken in recent years to make voter registration more convenient and accessible have not had the hoped-for effect on voter turnout. Even technological advancements utilizing the Internet to ease the burden of voter registration and new laws such as the Motor Voter Act have not dramatically improved the situation. Although sixty-four percent and fifty-seven percent of nonvoters responded that allowing for same-day registration and two- or three-day consecutive voting, respectively, would make voting more attractive for them, it is questionable whether or not even these reforms would make the needed difference.

Compulsive voting encourages allowing disenfranchised groups to participate in the political sphere.
Brianna Harrison and Philip Lynch, Homeless Persons' Legal Clinic, March 2003, Votes to the Homeless Submission to the Victorian Government Regarding Homelessness and the Right to Vote, p. 7. The homeless population is one of society's most powerless and disenfranchised groups. The sense of frustration and powerlessness that attends homelessness is perpetuated by the denial, in substance or form, of the right to vote in federal and state elections. This denial also undermines democracy, any meaningful notion of which must provide for protection of, and participation by, members of marginalised groups. Exercise of the right to vote is likely to give homeless people an enhanced sense of agency and empowerment. Moreover, given that the needs of homeless people are often so different to the needs of those with stable accommodation, it is crucial that they are encouraged, assisted and able to enroll and vote in elections so as to articulate their special circumstances, interests and concerns. This is crucial to sensitive policy responses to homelessness and the construction of sustainable pathways out of homelessness.