Federal Liberals float the idea of mandatory voting in party survey

Every once in a while, political parties will put out a survey asking their members some very loaded questions.

The Conservative Party did it earlier this week with a bevy of ‘family values’ queries that play well to their base.

The Liberals came out with their own survey, posted to their website, on Wednesday. The first five questions reinforce Liberal Party policy with regard to Canada Post’s home delivery service, funding cuts to the CBC and budget cuts to Veterans Affairs.

The sixth question is a little different:

Any pollster will tell you that these polls aren’t scientific, at all, and therefore don’t give political parties any real insight.

So why are the Liberals asking about mandatory voting? Could it be a trial balloon ahead of their platform launch?

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If elected to form government in 2015, the Liberals have said that they would create an all-party committee to look at electoral and parliamentary reform.

And there are certainly some people in ‘Camp Trudeau’ who believe mandatory voting is the way to go.

In June, the Canadian Press reported that a top Trudeau adviser — Robert Asselin — is touting that, along with other electoral reforms.

"I’m pushing mandatory voting and preferential ballots so that citizens don’t see democratic reform just as reforming institutions, but they see it as something that belongs to us and if we don’t take care of it like anything else in our lives … it will just fall apart," Asselin said in an interview, according to CP.

We asked the party why they were broaching the issue now and had not received a response as of press time.

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In light of recent voter turn out records, the idea of penalizing Canadians who don’t vote has indeed picked-up some steam.

In the 2011 federal election, only 61.1 per cent of Canadians bothered to cast a ballot. The youth voter turnout statistic is even more alarming — only 25 per cent of this demographic came out to vote.

In an article published in the Chronicle Herald in 2012, political science professor Peter McKenna aptly described Canadians as “political dropouts.”

He writes that we need to follow to the lead of Australia before it’s too late.

"Before you dismiss this proposal, remember voting is already mandatory in over 30 countries. Liberal democracies like Australia, Belgium and Switzerland have well-established compulsory voting systems," he wrote.

"Australia routinely garners voter participation rates of 95 per cent, which puts us to shame. Citizens there can be fined (about $20) for not voting without a sufficient reason or justification. And if the nominal fine is not paid after several warning letters, offenders could face possible jail time.

"There may come a time, particularly if these low voter turnout rates continue into the future, where someone is going to wonder why we have elections in the first place if no one is bothering to show up."

Critics of compulsory voting, however, argue that it’s undemocratic — that the right to vote also implies the right not to vote.

Others wonder about the efficacy of having thousands upon thousands of Canadians, who aren’t politically engaged, casting ballots. Do we really want people who don’t know the candidates or issues to vote just to avoid a monetary fine?

What do you think?

Would you like to see mandatory voting in Canada?

Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.