Evening star., 1921-09-01
TPENALT|ESFAILING
| | TO INDUCE Voting
Many in Argentina Disregard
|, Law Which Requires
7 Casting of Ballots.
By the Associated Press


III BUENOS AIRES, Aug. 10.@Students
tIof American politics who have OBJ
lHserved the operation of the compul-
.sl sorry registration and voting law OF
II! !Argentina have discovered that a
itllarge number of persons registered
land entitled to vote in that country
lilstill keep away from the polls.
III Although penalties are imposed by
Hi the Argentine law. its strict enforce
.itment has been found impracticable.
3, especially in the large population
-are still so numerous that the courts
would be ciogged with them if they
did not accept the excuses of thou
sands who plead inability to vote be-
. cause of illness. absence from home
! or other reasons.
Nevertheless. the Argentinans be-
J lieve the combined features OF COM
. pnlsion and secrecy in the law. which
was adopted in 1911. have proved a
success because, under it's operation.
. the number of voters has increased
to more than 6S per cent.
Prior to enactment of the measure,
(he apathy and Indifference of the Ar
Eentine elector probably was as great
or greater than in the United States,
owing mostly TO the disbelief here in
fhe honesty of elections.
/ The law requires the registration
OF every male citizen of eighteen
years for the purpose of voting CO.
, incidentally with his registration for
, compulsory military service. 1t i'm
poses fine of 10 pesos or forty
eight hours imprisonment for failure
: to cast a ballot at a national election
In the presidential election of 1910.
. prior to the enactment of the COM
pulsory law. when the. population of
the country was little over 100000,
only 1924 citizens voluntarily en-
/. rolled for the election and 442,562
Voted. a considerable number of these
votes. it is generally admitted, rep
resented the activities Of ''repeaters."
In the congressional elections of
1912. the first held under the. secret
and compulsory law. 932.401 were
registered and 64O.S52 voted. an in
crease in the number of voters of
about As per cent.
= In the 1915 presidential elections.
when the population, was 100000. the
number of registrants had increased
to 1,1S9,264 of which 745.S25 voted. or
an increase in voters over 1910 of
6S.5 per cent.
In Euenos Aires. the federal cap
atal, with its population of 100000,
the proportion of non-voters to those
registered was only 90 per cent. This
was ascribed to the keener interest
In politics there. Comparatively few
OF thoSe VINO tailed to vote were hned.
Fails to Prohibit .Blanks."
The Argentine law fails to prevent
voters from casting blank ballots.
Some do and there is no way of
identifying them AS in the United
States. the voter is given a ballot that
cannot afterward be identified. He
taay therefore merely go through the
form of entering tive booth, sealing
an unmarked ballot in the envelope
provided for him. and depositing it in
the ballot box outside and thereby
comply with the Law.
Voters in each district are checked
up by means of the military enroll
pent. and are identified at the polls
by the 'libreta de enrolamiento" that
aYery Argentine youth must possess
UPON reaching the age of eighteen and
which he permanently preserves. This
contains his photograph, thumb print.
upon which the elections officials place
their seal when he votes. This sys-
tenn has practically eliminated fraud
hfent voting in Argentina. Repeat
ers" no longer flourish. The only pos.
sibility of fraud is in the counting of
the votes.
Radicals Gain Power.
/ The first national election under the
secret and compulsory law resulted in
4 triumph of the radical party, which
still is in power. This party has con-
tended that under the old law it had
been robbed of, elections by fraudulent
voting and at several elections its
followers abstained from the polls.
saying it was useless to vote. With
the passage of the new law it en-.
tered the congressional campaign of
1912, under the leadership Of Hipolite |
Yrigoyen. won the elections, and in !
1915 elected 1rlgoyen president.