According to the old maxim, the longer you live the more you learn, and this proved so true for me on Friday while driving along listening to the latest World News on BBC Radio.The only national elections to which I have traditionally paid any attention, apart from our own five-yearly exercise, have been those in other English-speaking Caribbean countries, as well as the United States, Russia, Canada and England.Periodically, world attention makes it impossible not to follow those in other places like the Middle East, Africa and Latin America.So there I was listening to BBC when the news reader announced they were going to their correspondent in Australia for an update on elections there. That was a surprise to me because I have no interest in Australia, so I wasn’t aware that Australians were going to the polls on Friday.Well, after the correspondent had giving an assessment, the newsreader, as they all do whether the questions make sense or not, asked his man on the ground if the turnout at the polling stations was high or low. It was then that I learnt there is always something new to learn.It came when the correspondent replied that the turnout in Australian elections is always close to 100 percent the reason being that voting is compulsory and any Australian who does not vote ends up in court and being fined. Wow. I never knew that.Well, like Thomas, I had my doubts about what the man said, assuming he was just pulling the announcer’s leg. However, curiosity later got the better of me and I decided to find out if it was true or not and guess what? It is true. If you don’t vote in Australia you do end up in court and you have to have a very, very good excuse in order to escape the fine.Once you are an Australian citizen and over the age of 18, unless you are of unsound mind or have been convicted of a serious crime you must not only be registered to vote but you must show up at the poll on Election Day. The only way you can have your fine waived for not doing do is if you can prove that you were seriously ill or otherwise incapacitated. Apparently, this compulsory voting thing has been in place since 1924 and allows for a degree of flexibility unheard of in this part of the world. For example, elections are held on Saturdays and voters can vote in any polling station in any part of the country. So if, using Barbados as an example, you live in St Lucy but work in St Philip you would not have to take half of the day off in order to get back to your polling station in Josey Hill. Since the compulsory voting law was enacted, voter turnout has moved from as low as 47 per cent before 1924 to between 94 and 96 percent during the decades since. The officials felt the law would eliminate voter apathy and it has worked.The Australians believe voting is a civic duty comparable to other duties such as paying taxes and doing jury duty. They say that the law also results in a parliament that more accurately reflects the will of the people and allows candidates to concentrate their campaign energies on issues rather than on trying to encourage constituents to go out and vote.On the other side, detractors argue that it is undemocratic to force people to vote, an infringement of their liberty, and that the “ignorant” and those with little interest in politics are forced to go to the polls.Should such a law be considered for Barbados?
•Al Gilkes heads a public relations firm.
