Why Waste Your Vote? Informal Voting in Compulsory Elections in Australia

Eamon McGinn () and Shiko Maruyama
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Eamon McGinn: University of Technology Sydney

No 2021/02, Working Paper Series from Economics Discipline Group, UTS Business School, University of Technology, Sydney

Abstract: In Australia, where voting is compulsory, around 5% of votes are informal, not counting toward the outcome. Between 2004�2016, 32% of electorates reported more informal votes than votes in the margin between the winner and runner-up. Using exogenous changes in electorate boundaries, we test two hypotheses from the literature. We find the pivotal voter theory unsupported, except that better-educated voters respond to the margin more strategically. However, we do find that more candidates cause more informal votes. This choice-overload effect is observed regardless of voters� education, indicating the role of time and effort cost rather than just cognitive ability.

Keywords: informal voting; voter participation; pivotal voter model; redistricting; choice overload; compulsory voting; difference in differences; Australia (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C21 D72 D73 D91 H11 P16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 73 pages
Date: 2021-05-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cdm and nep-pol
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