Voter Tax Credit
Canada and the United States fail as democracies because not enough people vote. For example, in the USA less than 57% of the voting age population voted in the presidential election of 2008. In the Canadian 2008 federal election less than 59% voted.
Some countries try to counteract low turnout by making voting compulsory, but doing that has enforcement problems and smacks of coercion.
What I propose is a Voter Tax Credit: you get to deduct $100 from your taxes in any year in which you vote in all elections for which you are eligible. If you don't owe any taxes, you get a $100 cheque from the government. If you only vote in one out of two elections in a given year, you get $50. The $100 amount is increased proportionate to the cost of living increases.
It is my belief that democratic participation increases civic responsibility. Therefore it is good to tie income redistribution to civic participation, which the Voter Tax Credit does. Those who take part in making the law will have greater respect for the law.
posted by Ken Erickson at 4:36 AM
1 Comments:
That is an ingenious plan. I lived in Australia where voting is compulsory. While I have never really heard of anyone being prosecuted or fined for not voting, this civic duty has established itself in the culture as simply the right thing to do.
It is a sad reflection of our state of democracy when we have to pay the people to participate in the most fundamental and simple parts. Perhaps an incentive like you suggest could be a way to make a transition from our current situation to one where we simply expect it as our civic duty.
Compulsory voting has a great impact on enfranchising and enhances democracy. I think we should not shy away from such a rule even if we never intend to enforce it harshly. Within two or three generations, we would have a much more active voting public.
If the Australian example is anything to judge by, I think it is worth exploring. But what government would be bold enough to enfranchise those who might not support them? A brave one.
Australia also benefits from the system of voters being able to designate the distribution of their preferences, rather than relying on the first-past-the-post system we have here in Canada. This is also a great idea because you vote for what you believe in, rather than to strategically prevent something you don't want, lest your 'real' vote be wasted. In preferential voting, the government really knows the will of the public.
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