This House would introduce compulsory voting

I accept the burden of proof but the Opposition should defend the merits of the present system, as opposed to merely citing the fact that it is the status quo. In this first speech, I seek to do two things: first I shall define the motion, and how I intend to implement the idea given in the motion, and then I shall put forward my first substantive arguments. The speaker for the Proposition is a resident of the United Kingdom, where compulsory voting has been suggested as a resolution to the country"s participation crisis. I shall therefore be looking at things from this angle, however this motion should be considered more in principle than in the context of any specific jurisdiction. By "compulsory voting", this House means that a law would be passed making it a criminal offence not to turn up at a polling station on an election day. Voters would be free to spoil their ballots, or even not to mark them and simply put them straight into the ballot box blank, however they would be obliged to cast a vote. Modelled on the Australian system, this House proposes to introduce a fine equivalent to "25 for those who do not vote and cannot provide a valid reason for this (for example illness or religious prohibition). The Proposition will now move into their substantive arguments, the first of which is that there is a participation crisis in western democracies which do not have compulsory voting. In the USA, turnout in presidential election has not been above 60% since the 1968 Presidential Election. In the UK, voter turnout has only twice exceeded 75% since Margaret Thatcher"s landslide in 1983 " in 2001 the figure hit a new low of 59%. Young people, in particular, are statistically unlikely to vote. In the 2010 General Election in the UK the majority of people aged between 18 and 24 did not turn out to vote. Participation in such democracies is in crisis and it is necessary to do something to ensure that more people vote. The reason why it is necessary to do this is that the government is supposed to be of the people, and yet a government of the people cannot be truly representative when a large percentage of the population are not turning out to vote. It is also interesting to note that many of those who do not vote later turn out to be those who criticise governments for not adequately representing their views " the now exhausted "politicians are all the same" argument. The Occupy movement is a case in point for this. We in the Proposition believe it is necessary for us to introduce these measures in order to make people speak their opinions within the structured democratic process. If people wish to continue casting a protest vote they will be able to: whether that comes through simply casting a blank ballot, or writing "TROLOLOLOLOL" all over the ballot paper and drawing moustaches on the pictures of the candidates. We do not believe that this will impede free speech: indeed with regards to protest votes it will allow the government to have democratic proof that people are unhappy with the political system and there was not simply a large flu outbreak a few days before the election. This is about ensuring that the democratic process knows what the people would like to tell it. This in turn will give future assemblies more legitimacy, as they will represent a greater majority of the people. Governments in turn will have more legitimacy. In the 2010 General Election in the United Kingdom the Conservative Party gained 36% of the vote, but on a turnout of merely 65%, giving him a real share of the vote of 23% of the total electorate. Despite this David Cameron heads up the ruling coalition in the House of Commons. We here in the Proposition believe this is both unacceptable and undemocratic and we believe that this has caused the UK"s government, and indeed its whole Parliament, to lack legitimacy. Had compulsory voting been introduced, whatever the outcome, the Government would have more legitimacy and a clearer mandate to govern. To summarise this point, we believe that the lack of people voting in elections is making the government less legitimate, and for this reason it has a reduced mandate to perform its function. By addressing this issue and making people more inclined to vote we believe we will produce an assembly better suited to its role and that is ultimately more democratic. Our second substantive point is that we believe that people have a duty to vote. By living in a given jurisdiction, we believe that one accepts a contract with the government that one is going to play by their rules. If you don"t play by the rules of the law, for example, you accept that the Government had the right to fine you, imprison you, or " in some jurisdictions " kill you. We believe that, in the same way that one has a duty to obey the law; one has a duty to vote in elections. It is part of living in a democracy. Democracies only work when people are willing to stick their heads above the parapet and say how they want the country to be run. There are immeasurable benefits which are gained from living in a democracy: liberty, free speech, freedom of movement and freedom of thought. We, however, believe that it is part of this unwritten social contract that the price for living in a democracy is participation. As we have already mentioned, the Government will only ever be able to act for what the people want when it has been truly chosen by the people. When people don"t vote, democracy breaks down and " if people do not use their right to vote " a small minority could vote in a Government that will take those rights away. For this reason, we believe that it should be compulsory to vote: it is compulsory to obey the law and so we believe it logical that it should be compulsory to have a say in who makes these laws. To summarise this first speech for the Proposition: democracy isn"t working in many western "democracies". Governments are lacking legitimacy, they are not representative enough to give people what they need and want, and people are not engaging with the social contract they sign up to when they live in a democracy. We believe that the introduction of compulsory voting will resolve these issues. With that I thank you, urge you to vote Proposition, and hand you to the Opposition to make their case.