Barack Obama wants compulsory voting Oz-style

US President Barack Obama has suggested his country adopt Australia’s system of compulsory voting to address low participation.

US President Barack Obama waves after speaking at The City Club of Cleveland.

US President Barack Obama has suggested the US adopt Australia’s system of compulsory voting to address the low participation of recent elections.

Just 36 per cent of Americans voted at last year’s mid-term elections — the lowest turnout in 70 years.

Only 57 per cent voted at the 2012 presidential election.

“In Australia and some other countries, there is mandatory voting,” Mr Obama told a town-hall meeting in Cleveland.

“If everybody voted, then it would completely change the political map in this country because the people who tend not to vote are young. They are lower-income. They are skewed more heavily towards immigrant groups and minority groups.”

His comment was welcomed by Labor’s national secretary, George Wright, who said “compulsory voting is a real strength of Australia’s democracy”.

Liberal MP Tony Smith, who chairs the parliamentary committee on electoral matters, said: “We’ve had compulsory voting since the 1920s and, combined with having elections on a Saturday, it ensures maximum turnout and participation.”

In the US, elections are typi­cally held on a Tuesday.

Australia has compulsory enrolment and people are required to attend a polling booth to receive a ballot paper. There is also a sophisticated system of pre-poll and postal voting.

At the 2013 federal poll, 93 per cent of those who were enrolled turned out to vote. People who do not vote can be fined. However, it is estimated that at that election, up to a million elig­ible voters may not have enrolled.

Mr Obama argued that compulsory voting would be “transformative” because it would “counteract money more than anything”, a comment on parties spending billions enticing people to vote. Analysts also believe it would help his Democratic Party, as surveys show Americans who don’t vote are more likely to be younger, lower-income, immig­rants or minorities and Democrat supporters.

“There’s a reason why some folks try to keep them away from the polls,” Mr Obama said in a shot at Republican states that have been accused of making it harder for people to vote.

Additional reporting: agencies