[danieltillett]

Technical you don't have to vote here in Australia, you just have to put a ballot paper in the box at the polling station and have your name crossed off the roll. Of course most peopl (95%) do bother to vote once they are at the polling station.

The best part of compulsory voting Australian-style is that it encourages people to show at least some interest in the political process since they know they will be voting.

[chiaro]

Yep, people who complain about political apathy here in Aus have no idea how bad it gets elsewhere.

[danieltillett]

Yes we manage to keep a much large percentage of the population involved in the political process by having everyone turn up at the polling station. Sure we have a lot of low information voters, but we also increase the percentage of the population that pays attention to the issues - at least around election times.