[OPINION] Compulsory Voting: A Must for Better Philippine Elections

The Philippines is a democratic country where exercising suffrage is not compulsory. Some citizens who are 18 and up are not using their voice by not voting; it opens a discussion about fining adults for not using their basic human right—to vote. Australia is a country where voting is compulsory; the voter turnout is exceptionally higher than in other democratic countries where voting is optional. Implementing compulsory voting in the Philippines can drastically improve democracy and the campaigns of candidates; it can also avoid voter suppression, which is a major issue in democratic elections.

Imposing a fine on people of voting age for not voting can help strengthen democracy. This requires Filipinos aged 18 and up, to vote and practice their right to vote. According to statistics, there is a 74.31% voter turnout and 13.24% invalid votes in the 2019 midterm elections in the Philippines (International IDEA, 2019). This is not as much as the voter turnout in a country where compulsory voting is established. Australia fines people of voting age for not voting and there is a positive result to this as there is an overwhelming 91.89% voter turnout and just 5% invalid votes during their 2019 Parliamentary elections (International IDEA, 2019). Democracy is stronger in Australia as there are a higher voter turnout and lower invalid votes compared to the Philippines. In Australia, having a countrywide barbecue became a tradition every Election Day‌ (Rychter T.. 2018). Compulsory voting also strengthens the relationship of the communities because of the tradition they practice. Australians who do not vote, receive an auto-generated message from the state seeking an explanation of why they failed to do it. Failure of the person to provide a valid reason will be fined depending on how many times an individual violated the rule (Western Australian Electoral Commission, 2018).

In view of this, the democracy of the Philippines will be strengthened as the percentage of voter turnout would increase, and invalid votes would decrease. Traditions during elections—like in Australia—can decrease invalid votes as people with a strong sense of belonging to their community are likely to participate willingly in government activities (Prest et al., 2019).

Moreover, a freelance online teacher, M. Daganta, answered in a questionnaire on the 11th of September 2020 that the right of suffrage is a basic human right that some people neglect. She added that if everybody would participate, the consensus will be more credible—resulting in better leaders in the future. Everyone who is under democracy should have equal opportunities voicing out their opinions towards the policy they need to follow (Dahl, 1998). Citizens should practice their right to vote as they are affected by decisions made during the elections.

By doing so, citizens would make candidates focus on campaigning to everyone and not just on the minority of citizens. Candidates usually campaign targeting the groups of people that they think are important, and it comes at the expense of minorities and low-income citizens. In a democratic country like the Philippines, a deciding factor that impacts a voter turnout is the socioeconomic classes of the citizens (Verba et al., 1972). People in the middle to upper classes are most likely the ones who show up in voting precincts as they have access to more resources and time to focus on politics. Politicians focus their campaigns on the people who vote more and cater to what they want in a leader. These candidates do the bare-minimum or nothing at all to the groups of people who do not focus on politics or not able to participate in the elections.

Also, a socioeconomic factor that has an impact on the voter turnout is education. Wealthier classes can have access to better education, while the less fortunate are less educated (Boundless Political Science, 2010). With compulsory voting—along with fining the people of voting age for not voting—all socioeconomic classes, especially the minorities, will have a representative during the elections. In a questionnaire dated 11 September 2020, a technical superintendent in Japan, M. Mendoza, answered that voting is one of the privileges of both lower and upper classes share equally. Therefore, compulsory voting would force candidates to strengthen their campaign by appealing to all citizens, with no exception.

Another reason why compulsory voting should be implemented is it would discourage voter suppression. This happens when a person of voting age is prevented—mostly by a political party—or cannot vote under circumstances like being in prison. Vote-buying can also be a way of voter suppression as citizens’ right to vote is monetized, either willingly or forcefully bought by a political party. This political strategy typically happens during Philippine elections. Vote-buying has been widespread in Sorsogon City, Philippines (Hicken et al., 2015). Candidates offer goods or money to voters in exchange for their votes. J. Relampagos, a ship captain, stated in a questionnaire dated 11 September 2020, that there will always be candidates who will perform vote-buying even if compulsory voting is implemented. This action is still possible when compulsory voting is implemented in the Philippines. One of the vote-buying tactics is to pay a citizen to not exercise their suffrage. While it may still happen, citizens would not get swayed easily as they are already required to go to voting precincts.

Voter suppression is also experienced by citizens who are in prisons, ‘barrios’, or those who cannot afford to go to voting precincts. The government is required to ensure that all citizens can vote, especially those people in their voting age—no matter how far some locations are. Voting teams can be assembled by the government to visit nursing homes, prisons, and remote areas so all citizens can exercise their rights.

To sum up, people of voting age should be required to vote because: it improves democracy, enhances campaigns of candidates, and discourages voter suppression. The citizens would definitely realize that suffrage involving every person of voting age gives everyone a voice, which is a basic human right. Therefore, compulsory voting will educate citizens and it would benefit the Philippine elections.

References:

Dahl, R. (2015) On Democracy, Yale University Press, New Haven

Philippines (2019) International IDEA. [online] Available at: https://www.idea.int/data-tools/country-view/240/40 [Accessed 3 Sep. 2020].

Australia (2019) International IDEA, [online] Available at: https://www.idea.int/data-tools/country-view/54/40 [Accessed 3 Sep. 2020].

Why People Vote (2010) Boundless Political Science. [online] Available at: https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-politicalscience/chapter/why-people-vote/ [Accessed 3 Sep. 2020].

Nie, N., and Verba, S. (2020). Participation in America, Adam Brown, BYU Political Science. [online] Available at: https://adambrown.info/p/notes/verba_and_nie_participation_in_america [Accessed 3 Sep. 2020].

‌Rychter, T. (2018). How Compulsory Voting Works: Australians Explain, The New York Times. [online] 22 Oct. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/22/world/australia/compulsory-voting.html [Accessed 3 Sep. 2020].

Failure to Vote (2018) Western Australian Electoral Commission, [online] Available at: https://www.elections.wa.gov.au/vote/failure-vote [Accessed 4 Sep. 2020].

Prest R., Savas D. (2019). Does a Sense of Belonging Strengthen Democracy?, Centre for Public Impact (CPI). [online] Available at: https://www.centreforpublicimpact.org/sense-of-belonging-strengthen-democracy/ [Accessed 4 Sep. 2020].

Hicken, A., Leider, S., Ravanilla, N., and Yang, D. (2015). Campaigns Against Vote-Selling in the Philippines: Do Promises Work, Innovations for Poverty Action. [online] Available at: https://www.poverty-action.org/study/campaigns-against-vote-selling-philippines-do-promises-work [Accessed 5 Sep. 2020].