Should Voting Be Made Mandatory?

Posted November 3, 2006 12:00 pm.

This article is more than 5 years old.

Or how would you feel if voting was mandatory?

Those are some of the tactics some governments are employing to get people out to the polls. Officials at City Hall may want to think about using some of these methods considering low voter turnout across Toronto.

The numbers in some wards are particularly bad, including Ward 8 – York West, where only 29 percent of eligible voters bothered to exercise their democratic right.

While candidates vying to represent their area of the city have their fellow candidates to worry about, their biggest concern is probably combating voter apathy.

“It’s all the same, it doesn’t matter,” eligible voter Marcello Ostroski said Friday.

Others just don’t care to learn or don’t have the time to find out what each candidate stands for.

“I listen to the news. I see what’s going on, but you don’t know if it’s really what the candidate is about or is it just simply politics,” Charmaine Greenedge said.

While the current voting process is pretty convenient as it is, allowing people to choose their representative from home may boost election numbers. When Internet voting was introduced in Markham in the last election, the city saw a 300 percent increase in advanced polls.

People would probably rush to the polls if the government said it was going to hand out money to voters. It may sound far-fetched but lawmakers in Arizona are considering entering each eligible voter into a lottery where they can win unclaimed lottery winnings.

And there are a number of countries, including Australia and Paraguay, where you can face fines and even jail time if you don’t cast a ballot. (See full list below)

But election officials in Toronto are bent on running the polls the old-fashioned way and have tried to urge people to visit the polls by making them more accessible.

“What we’ve done to encourage greater voter turnout is we have an unprecedented number of voting opportunities prior to Election Day,” City of Toronto spokesman Brad Ross explained.

You can cast your ballot on Nov. 13 and to find out more about advanced polls, click here.

Ward 1 Etobicoke North

Winner: Suzan Hall
Total Number of Eligible Voters (2006): 27,766
Total Votes: 11,222

Ward 2 Etobicoke North

Winner: Rob Ford
Total Number of Eligible Voters (2006): 30,228
Total Votes: 13,352

Ward 3 Etobicoke Centre

Winner: Doug Holyday
Total Number of Eligible Voters (2006): 35,123
Total Votes: 17,241

Ward 4 Etobicoke Centre

Winner: Gloria Lindsay Luby
Total Number of Eligible Voters (2006): 34,471
Total Votes: 18,976

Ward 5 Etobicoke Lakeshore

Winner: Peter Milcyn
Total Number of Eligible Voters (2006): 38,541
Total Votes: 17,818

Ward 6 Etobicoke Lakeshore

Winner: Mark Grimes
Total Number of Eligible Voters (2006): 37,948
Total Votes: 16,464

Ward 7 York West

Winner: Giorgio Mammoliti
Total Number of Eligible Voters (2006): 24,812
Total Votes: Acclaimed

Ward 8 York West

Winner: Peter Li Preti
Total Number of Eligible Voters (2006): 21,760
Total Votes: 8,872

Ward 9 York Centre

Winner: Maria Augimeri
Total Number of Eligible Voters (2006): 25,186
Total Votes: 10,647

Ward 10 York Centre

Winner: Michael Feldman
Total Number of Eligible Voters (2006): 34,027
Total Votes: 13,492

Ward 11 York South Weston

Winner: Frances Nunziata
Total Number of Eligible Voters (2006): 31,737
Total Votes: 12,591

Ward 12 York South Weston

Winner: Frank Di Giorgio
Total Number of Eligible Voters (2006): 28,663
Total Votes: 11,035

Ward 13 Parkdale High Park

Winner: Bill Saundercook
Total Number of Eligible Voters (2006): 33,297
Total Votes: 19,903

Ward 14 Parkdale High Park

Winner: Sylvia Watson
Total Number of Eligible Voters (2006): 27,040
Total Votes: 14,168

Ward 15 Eglinton-Lawrence

Winner: Howard Moscoe
Total Number of Eligible Voters (2006): 34,080
Total Votes: 14,471

Ward 16 Eglinton-Lawrence

Winner: Karen Stintz
Total Number of Eligible Voters (2006): 33,865
Total Votes: 18,889

Ward 17 Davenport

Winner: Cesar Palacio
Total Number of Eligible Voters (2006): 28,779
Total Votes: 11,394

Ward 18 Davenport

Winner: Adam Giambrone
Total Number of Eligible Voters (2006): 24,997
Total Votes: 11,250

Ward 19 Trinity-Spadina

Winner: Joe Pantalone
Total Number of Eligible Voters (2006): 31,023
Total Votes: 13,774

Ward 20 Trinity-Spadina

Winner: Olivia Chow (now an MP)
Total Number of Eligible Voters (2006): 37,433
Total Votes: 17,492

Ward 21 St. Paul’s

Winner: Joe Mihevic
Total Number of Eligible Voters (2006): 29,511
Total Votes: 16,569

Ward 22 St. Paul’s

Winner: Michael Walker
Total Number of Eligible Voters (2006): 37,387
Total Votes: 20,970

Ward 23 Willowdale

Winner: John Filion
Total Number of Eligible Voters (2006): 45,758
Total Votes: 16,593

Ward 24 Willowdale

Winner: David Shiner
Total Number of Eligible Voters (2006): 37,634
Total Votes: Acclaimed

Ward 25 Don Valley West

Winner: Clifford Jenkins
Total Number of Eligible Voters (2006): 36,720
Total Votes: 18,662

Ward 26 Don Valley West

Winner: Jane Pitfield
Total Number of Eligible Voters (2006): 29,427
Total Votes: 15,701

Ward 27 Toronto Centre-Rosedale

Winner: Kyle Rae
Total Number of Eligible Voters (2006): 41,633
Total Votes: 19,971

Ward 28 Toronto Centre-Rosedale

Winner: Pam McConnell
Total Number of Eligible Voters (2006): 28, 011
Total Votes: 16,764

Ward 29 Toronto Danforth

Winner: Case Ootes
Total Number of Eligible Voters (2006): 28,401
Total Votes: 15,039

Ward 30 Toronto Danforth

Winner: Paula Fletcher
Total Number of Eligible Voters (2006): 31,464
Total Votes: 16,372

Ward 31 Beaches-East York

Winner: Janet Davis
Total Number of Eligible Voters (2006): 30,857
Total Votes: 16,504

Ward 32 Beaches-East York

Winner: Sandra Bussin
Total Number of Eligible Voters (2006): 35,381
Total Votes: 19,302

Ward 33 Don Valley East

Winner: Shelley Carroll
Total Number of Eligible Voters (2006): 30, 428
Total Votes: 12,973

Ward 34 Don Valley East

Winner: Denzil Minnan-Wong
Total Number of Eligible Voters (2006): 29,744
Total Votes: 13,800

Ward 35 Scarborough Southwest

Winner: Gerry Altobello
Total Number of Eligible Voters (2006): 29,939
Total Votes: 11,875

Ward 36 Scarborough Southwest

Winner: Brian Ashton
Total Number of Eligible Voters (2006): 31,528
Total Votes: 14,969

Ward 37 Scarborough Centre

Winner: Michael Thompson
Total Number of Eligible Voters (2006): 35,951
Total Votes: 15,494

Ward 38 Scarborough Centre

Winner: Glenn De Baeremaeker
Total Number of Eligible Voters (2006): 33,686
Total Votes: 13,495

Ward 39 Scarborough Agincourt

Winner: Mike Del Grande
Total Number of Eligible Voters (2006): 33,016
Total Votes: 12,197

Ward 40 Scarborough Agincourt

Winner: Norman Kelly
Total Number of Eligible Voters (2006): 32,918
Total Votes: 14,023

Ward 41 Scarborough Rouge River

Winner: Bas Balkissoon
Total Number of Eligible Voters (2006): 39,789
Total Votes: 13,469

Ward 42 Scarborough Rouge River

Winner: Raymond Cho
Total Number of Eligible Voters (2006): 37,799
Total Votes: 11,861

Ward 43 Scarborough East

Winner: David Socknacki
Total Number of Eligible Voters (2006): 29,690
Total Votes: 11,887

Ward 44 Scarborough East

Winner: Gay Cowbourne
Total Number of Eligible Voters (2006): 39,887
Total Votes: 17,118

Here’s a list of some of the countries where the idea of mandatory voting is already at least partly in force and the repercussions of not making your “X”.

Argentina: Fine if no explanation

Australia: Fine if no explanation

Belgium: Fine if no explanation, possible inability to land public sector job

Bolivia: Possible confiscation of wages

Brazil: Fine for not voting

Chile: Fine for not voting; rare imprisonment (Registration is optional, but once you’re registered, you’re expected to vote)

Costa Rica: No set penalty

Cyprus: Fine if no explanation

Dominican Republic: No set penalty

Ecuador: Fine for not voting

Egypt: Fine for not voting; possible imprisonment

Fiji: Fine for not voting; possible imprisonment