"The House Believes that voting in political elections should be mandatory."
Join us for an evening of debate on whether voting in political elections should be mandatory.
Potential Areas For Discussion
The proposition might discuss:
For a democracy to represent the people it needs to have the people participate.
Young and working class people are heavily under-represented in the voting population.
Mandatory voting works in Australia and it will work here.
The opposition might discuss:
Abstaining is a valid form of political expression.
This would take away the right to vote and instead create a duty.
Mandatory implies the use of force. So what would the consequences for not voting be?
We have prepared a few resources that you may find helpful to review prior to the debate:
Compulsory voting Research Briefing (Houses of Parliament)
Compulsory voting: A remedy or ruse for democracy? (Institute of Development Studies)
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“Without citizens actively engaging in politics, representative institutions risk failure to reflect the preferences of the governed people.” - Institute of Development Studies - Haddy Sowe