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Northern Ireland local elections: Is it time for mandatory voting? [1]
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Date: 2023-05
In Australia, voting is often seen as a community celebration. On polling day, surfers and beachgoers queue up in their swimwear to cast their ballots before grabbing a celebratory ‘democracy sausage’, a free hotdog handed out to mark the occasion.
Weather notwithstanding, these images stand in stark contrast with the drab and dreary election cycles in Northern Ireland, which often descend into a sectarian headcount.
Australia’s turnout – upwards of 95% – is also very different to that of Northern Ireland. Voter apathy was seen as the biggest hurdle for parties going into the North’s local elections, particularly given the continued mothballing at Stormont, but with an average turnout of 52%, the electorate has never been all that engaged.
Of course, Australia’s democracy relies on mandatory voting; citizens are required by law to vote, with $20 fines for failing to perform their democratic duties without a reasonable excuse. A similar system – albeit without the fines – could offer a solution for Northern Ireland’s dysfunctional politics, where the repeated failure to deliver stable governance has weakened community trust in democratic politics.
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This was seen in last week’s local elections when only half of eligible voters cast their ballot – a point of despair for many of the parties being squeezed – and in last year’s Northern Ireland Life and Times survey, in which only 17% said they trusted the executive.
It’s true that across the UK voter turnout is typically lower at local elections, but Northern Ireland has also seen lower turnouts than England, Scotland and Wales in the past four general elections and the 2016 Brexit referendum. Voters’ apathy and distrust are perhaps unsurprising given its uniquely fragile political system – a government hasn’t sat in Stormont in well over a year.
Compulsory voting could encourage those who have been disenfranchised by the political stasis to re-engage with the political system. And with a broader range of people participating in the democratic process, our decision-making would become more representative of society.
Turnout in predominantly nationalist areas is consistently higher than in some unionist constituencies. Some 69.4% of voters cast ballots in Mid Ulster’s Moyola district electoral area – where Sinn Féin dominates – compared to just 43.3% in DUP heartland Antrim.
The Ulster Unionists lost 21 seats in last week’s elections, a significant blow for the party. Responding to the results, leader Doug Beattie said: “We have a real issue getting people out of their doors to go and cast their vote in many areas. That is a failure on our behalf. Maybe it is a failing on unionism’s behalf.”
But recent polling indicates that Sinn Féin – which last week became the largest party in local government for the first time – is now the most popular party across all age groups except over-65s, where the DUP has a marginal lead. Unionist voters may not simply be staying home, but slowly disappearing.
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[1] Url:
https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/northern-ireland-local-elections-sinn-fein-mandatory-voting-low-turnout-stormont/
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