Abstention as a form of protest can be effectively carried out under CV, DAT
Power, Timothy J, and J. Timmons Roberts. Compulsory Voting, Invalid Ballots, and
Abstention in Brazil Political Research Quarterly, Vol. 48, No. 4 (Dec, 1995).
Low voter turnout and the desire to strengthen democratic institutions have inspired many to propose that voting be made mandatory bylaw. In Brazil, as in Australia, Belgium, Italy, and a number of other countries, voting has in fact been compulsory for decades' However, the case of Brazil alerts us that compelling voters to go to the polls does not guarantee that they will complete a ballot. While invalid votes in wealthy democracies such as Australia and the Netherlands have usually comprised about 2 to 3 percent of all ballots cast, in Brazil the equivalent rates are from five to twenty times higher. During Brazil's military regime of 1964-85, blank and spoiled ballots were often interpreted as a form of protest against the dictatorship. However in recent, democratically conducted elections in 1986 and 1990, rates of invalid voting set new records, skyrocketing to
40 percent of all ballots cast for the lower house of the National Congress. In addition, in 1990 some 15 percent of potential voters failed to show up at the polls altogether, most of these in violation of the law. (578)
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