Today Labour backbencher David Winnick (MP for Walsall) is introducing a ten-minute rule bill to parliament aimed at making voting a “civic duty” in an attempt to get more voters to turn out at election time.
Currently the UK has an awful record on electoral turnout. According to a recent BBC News article, At the last General Election in 2010 only 65% of those registered bothered to vote — that’s a massive 16 million who didn’t vote. Add to that the estimate that around 7.5 million who are eligible to vote don’t bother to register (although repeat “offenders” can mow be fined) and we have around half the country who aren’t expressing their opinion (even if that is “none of the above”).
And that’s for a General Election. Local government elections often have turnouts of no more than 25%, yet people continue to complain about their local services.
And the figures are even worse amongst the younger generation with only 44% of 18-24 year-olds voting in 2010.

One suggestion is that voting should be made compulsory, as it is in Australia where there is always around a 98% turnout. This is an idea I like and one of the few places where I would be prescriptive in telling people what to do! After all the state already makes us do other, often more onerous, things (eg. jury service) as a civic duty so it isn’t as if there is no precedent.
However for me compulsory voting would only truly work if every ballot paper had a “None of the above” option at the bottom thus allowing a positive abstention to be counted (although one always has the option to spoil ones voting paper). If nothing else the level of positive abstentions would be enlightening. One could even look at a system where if the rate of positive abstentions is too high (maybe over 25% of votes cast?) then the vote in that constituency is declared null and void and has to be re-run. That could concentrate the minds of not just a few politicians but also the electorate who would have to do their civic duty again, and again, and again … while paying the cost through their taxes!
Somehow we have to energise the great British electorate into being rather less apathetic. But then some integrity and common sense from the elected politicians would be a good start!
Thoughts anyone?