13NFL1-Compulsory Voting Page 134 of 163 www.victorybriefs.com RANDOM VOTING DOES NOT SOLVE DISPROPORTIONATE POLITICAL INFLUENCE Ben Saunders Temporary Lecturer in Philosophy, Increasing
Turnout A Compelling Case Politics: 2010 Vol. 30(1), 70
–77 While it is probably true that all members of the polity are somewhat affected by its decisions, if only because they bear collective
responsibility for them, it is plain that some are more affected than others. Many of those who abstain do so, either out of
apathy or principled deference, because the issues involved do not concern them greatly. Of course, it might be that this
is shortsighted on their part, if they simply do not recognise that their interests are affected. It is unclear, however, whether forced participation will lead them to engage with the issues or whether they will be able adequately to protect their interests via the vote without a proper understanding of how decisions affect them.
If these people were forced – or incentivised – to vote, there is a danger that they would do so randomly, potentially distorting electoral outcomes (Jakee and Sun,
2006, pp. 67
–69).
