The paricipation rate in Local Council election is woeful, on averagle less than 40 percent of registered voters bother to cast their vote in their local council elections.
In this year's Local Government elections, over 1.1 million ballot paper and relevant material has been sent out to voters across Western Australia.
By the time the ballot closes at 6.00pm on Saturday, 15th October, less the 400,000 votes will have been cast.
This will be a pathetic result, again.
By making voting compulsory, there would be an increased participation, improved legitimacy and a consistency with other spheres of government.
And, most importantly, more residents and ratepayers just might take a bit more interest in their Local Government.
The arguments against compulsory voting are: There is a democratic right not to vote; local of community support for compulsory voting; and, the cost of enforcement on non-voters.
Personally, I think Local Government election voting should be compulsory, with the hope that more residents and ratepayers take more of an interest in their local council activities - The better the participation, the better the people you get representing you and your interests and the more likely the local council will do more for the local community with the funds available.
What do you think?
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