Should voting be compulsory or should we have a right not to vote?
Each year, millions of people fail to vote without reproach. Does abstention constitute a citizen’s right not to vote? This article in Australian Journal of Political Science explores whether we have a legal right to a ‘no vote’ and if such a right should be protected as fiercely as the right to vote. Lisa Hill discusses the ‘no vote’, its implications for society and reaches a firm conclusion. Many assert that not voting is a fundamental right, a free expression of political discontent. Some go as far as to say that