A new University of Georgia study finds that compulsory voting laws, even when unenforced, can significantly increase voter turnout. Researchers examined a natural experiment in Karnataka, India, where a 2015 law required voting in local elections but imposed no penalties. The result: turnout jumped by 6.5 to 14 percentage points.
Lead author Shane Singh, a professor at UGA’s School of Public and International Affairs, said the findings underscore the expressive power of law. “People respond to the law, even without enforcement,” Singh noted, suggesting that the existence of a rule can shape civic norms.
The study offers a potential middle ground for democracies facing low participation: require voting, but skip the punishments. As debates unfold in U.S. states and abroad, like Chile’s current push to add enforcement to its law, Singh’s findings present a gentler, evidence-based path to strengthen democracy. The study appears in Electoral Studies.
