Now They Want to Drag Us, Kicking and Screaming

The article on PA about this is even funnier:

MAKE PEOPLE VOTE SAYS HOON

By Gavin Cordon, PA Whitehall Editor

Leader of the Commons Geoff Hoon issued a call today for the

introduction of compulsory voting at general elections to reverse the

sharp decline in voter turnout.

Mr Hoon warned that ``serial non-voters'' - particularly among

younger people and in the more deprived areas - could threaten the

long-term legitimacy of the political system.

While he acknowledged that new voting methods - such as electronic

voting - could help to boost turnout, international experience had

shown that the most effective way was to make voting compulsory.

In a speech to the Institute for Public Policy Research, Mr Hoon

said that the turnout at the last general election of 61.5% was way

below the 75% plus which had been the norm for most of the post war

period.

With voting rates highest among older voters, he said that the

situation was likely to get worse as the years progressed unless

action was taken to stem the decline.

``My fear is that as the older, more regular voters die, we will be

left with a significant number of people for whom voting is neither a

habit, nor a duty,'' he said.

``Now we are seeing, not just twenty somethings, but people in

their thirties and forties who have never voted and who actually seem

proud to say so. This is something that greatly concerns me.

``This deliberate non-voting seems to be spreading up through our

voting population, threatening the long term legitimacy of our

political system.''

Mr Hoon blamed a sense of ``alienation'' from the political system

among people who felt that voting made no difference, a trend that

would be exacerbated as the parties increasingly tailored their

policies to people they knew would vote.

``My fear is that as time goes on, as all political parties become

more sophisticated at targeting actual voters, we could fail to pay

attention to serial non-voters,'' he said.

``This will alter our democratic debate, risking encouraging a

greater focus on issues of concern to the chattering classes,

neglecting issues of wider and more general concern. It is profoundly

dangerous for our political life.''

In contrast, he said that in countries such as Australia where

voting was compulsory, turnout could exceed 90%.

``To me, and this is entirely my personal perspective, a higher

turnout, will generate more political participation across all

strands of society,'' he said.

``A higher turnout is vital if we are to ensure a representative,

healthy and vibrant democracy in our country.

``International experience points to compulsory voting being the

most effective way to increase turnout.''

Mr Hoon said that he did not believe that large penalties would be

necessary to enforce compulsory voting.

He suggested that people could even be offered an incentive to

comply in the form a a small reduction in their council tax bill.

He stressed that people would still have the right to abstain or to

spoil their ballot papers.

Downing Street said that Mr Hoon's comments were intended to start

a debate on the issue and did not herald a change in policy.

``I think Geoff Hoon is really starting a debate. This is his

personal view. It is not signalling that the Government is about to

introduce a change,'' a spokeswoman said.

end