By Vivienne Russell | 29 April 2013
Young people should be required to vote in the first election for which they are eligible and fined if they don’t, according to the Institute for Public Policy Research.
This could help to making voting a lifetime habit and address an emerging inequality in the democratic system, as younger people were voting less and were consequently hit harder by the government’s decisions, the IPPR said.
At the 2010 general election, just over three-quarters of 60-year-olds (76%) voted, compared to less than half of 18 to 24-year-olds (44%).
Guy Lodge, associate director at the IPPR, said: ‘Unequal turnout matters because it gives well-off and older voters disproportionate influence at the ballot box and reduces the incentives for governments to respond to the interests of non-voting groups. We should not be surprised that the Education Maintenance Allowance has been scrapped, while universal benefits for the elderly have been protected.
‘There is reason to believe that if young people were obliged by law to give voting a try, this could well go a long way toward kick-starting a life-time habit of voting.’
Sarah Birch, professor of politics at the University of Essex, said lower turnout among certain groups created a ‘vicious cycle’, as the disengaged groups saw little point in voting.
‘A number of different strategies have been used to try to break this cycle, but none of them has proved effective,’ she said.
‘Something more radical is therefore called for. Mandatory electoral participation for new voters could well be very effective in engaging young people in politics and engaging politicians in young people.’
The IPPR is suggesting that young people be given a ‘none of the above’ option so they do not have to endorse a particular party or candidate if they choose not to.
More detail will be provided in a report the IPPR is due to issue next month.
