The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-08-28
COMPlJL LSORY LAW
 FOR VOTING DOES
 NOT CATCH ALI
Students of American Politics Are Observing Operation of the Scheme in
 Buenos Aires
By Associated Press

R1enos Aires, August 27.-Students l'of American politics who have ob-
 served the operation of the compul- sorry registration and voting law or Argentina have discovered thas a | large number of persons registered ] and entitled to vote in that country still keep away from the polls. | Although penalties are imposed by the Argentine law, it's strict enforce
 ment has been found impractieable, especially in the large population 1 ceRters. The cases of failure to vote
 are still so numerous that the courts | would be clogged 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. 4-Mfs
 l Nevertheless, the Argentines be- lieve the combined features of conn l pulsion and secrecy in the law, which
 was adopted in 1911. have proved a
 success, because it's operation, the
 number of voters has increased to
 more than 6S per cent
 Prior to enactment of the measure, ! the apathy and indifference of the 1 Argentine elector probably was as
 great or greater than in the United | States owing mostly to the disbelief | here in the honesty of elections, Males Must Register
 1 The law requires the registration | of every male citizen of s years for I the purpose of voting coincidentally |. with his registration for compulsory military service. It. imposes a fine of 10 pesos or 4S-hours Imprisonment | for failure to cast ballot at a na-
 ,ional election.
 | In the presidential election of 1910. 1 prior to the enactment of the compul- sory law, when the population of the i country was little over 7OUO, 0O6,
 only TSS,2s4 citizens voluntarily en-
 rolled for the election and 442,562 voted. A considerable number of
 these votes, it is generally admitted,
 represented the activities of re l peaters."
 In, the congressional elections of | 1912, the first held under the secret
 and. compulsory law. 9S2.4O1 were registered and 640,S52 voted, an in l crease in the number of voters of | about 45 per cent.
 In the 1916 presidential elections, | when the population was T.700, O00,
 the number of registrants had in- ] creased to 1,1ss,264. of which 745.- S25 voted or an increase in voters 1 over lSlU or bS.0 per cent.
 In Beunos Aires, the federal capi-
 tai. with its population of 1,700, GOO,
 the proportion of non-voters to these
 registered was only 20 per cent. This
 was ascribed to the keener interest
 in politics there's Comparatively few
 who failed 10 vote were fined. Cast Blank Ballots
 | 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
 may therefore merely~go through the
 form of entering the booth, sealing
 an unmarked ballot in the envesope provided for him, and depositing it in
 the ballot box outside and thereby
 comply with the law.
 Voters in each district are check ed up by means of the military enroll
 ment and are identified at the polls
 by the 'liberta de enrolamiento" that
 every Argentine youth must possess
 upon reaching the age of IS and { which he permanently preserves This contains his photograph, thumb print 4 physical description and blank spaces i upon which the election officials
 place their seal when he votes. This 1 system has practically eliminated
 fraudulent voting in Argentina. Re
 peaters' no longer flourish. The only