Should Bangladesh reintroduce ‘no vote’ option initiating mandatory voting?

In the 12th parliamentary election, the 'No vote' option could potentially secure the highest number of votes, despite the seat being traditionally considered a stronghold for the Jatiya Party, a young, strong and confident voice drew the attention of many present at DU Teacher Student Centre premises on Wednesday afternoon.

Since the formation of the party JaPa never lost in the seat but this could have happened as the JaPa candidate, its Chairman GM Quader lost his ground because of his activities just before the election. Again, whatever progress in the mentality of the nation you claim, the truth is locals are not yet ready to accept a hijra (third gender person) as their representative, the student named Aditya (not his real name) continued.

When approached by a curious student from the department of Political Science of the university, Zakir Hossain and Aditya said that the way GM Quader was speaking in the parliament was very unimpressive, especially when you went to an election getting all sorts of possible benefits defying party men's demands.

One of the group members, friends of Aditya Najmul Ahmed from Mirpur, said that it would have been better, if the ‘No Vote’ continued after 2009.

The student of the International Relation Department said as the voters could hold a power to reject the candidates it will ensure a huge presence of the voters and also the parties will think effectively before giving away a seat to anybody.

He, however, suggested that the government can also think of making vote mandatory like it is in Argentina and Australia but with having a weapon named “No vote.”

As one of the two largest parties, Bangladesh National Party (BNP) and its like-minded political parties boycotted the national polls, several election experts in the country suggested keeping the ‘No Vote’ provision in the ballot paper.

Former Election Commissioner (2007 to 2012) Maj Gen (retd) M Sakhawat Hussain in early December last year told the reporter that low vote casting would be a problem for the election and ‘No vote’ might be a better solution.

And for this a lot of tasks have to be done by the current election commission. But only a firm mentality from the EC could work it out, he added.

Asked about mandatory voting he replied saying there is some controversy with the method. But it might be tried.

Kazi Habibul Awal, chief election commissioner of the current EC, while replying to a question said that it's the government's decision if they will restore the system again or not. If they want, the new government may take initiative for it.

Only election with ‘No Vote’ option Sakhawat Hussain was one of the three members election commission in 2007 to 2012 led by CEC ATM Shamshul Huda that is often mentioned as one of the bravest election commissions in the country till now.

The commission for the first time introduced ‘No vote’ in parliament elections during the 2008 issuing amended Representation of the People Order, 1972. Following the provision, the voters got an option at the end where instead of a candidate it read “No one above” and to understand the symbol it was a cross (X).
The then commission argued that no vote will help establish democratic rights of the voters, pressuring the political parties to choose better candidates for election and most of the increase of voters’ presence in the election.

Due to several reasons EC could not make strong promotion of ‘No vote’ but still youth received it warmly. And consequently, ‘No vote’ received seventh highest votes in comparison to political parties participating in that election. Even, no vote wins in one of the centres in the capital.
But subsequently the Awami League led government abolished the amendment in 2009 and the then opposition party in the parliament BNP remained silent on the issue.

Countries with vote mandatory
Mandatory vote is not a recent concept. As of January 2024, a total of some 25 countries from Asia, South America, Europe and Africa have the relevant law. However, only 10 countries enforce it.

Belgium has the oldest compulsory voting system dating back to 1893 for men and 1948 for women. On the other hand, compulsory voting for national elections was introduced in Australia in 1924 and 1912 in Argentina.

According to the legalanswers.sl.nsw.gov.au the mandatory vote can capture voter preferences, civil responsibility, improve candidate choices, mild penalties provide big boosts in turnout, paradox of voting, protect against demagogues, reduce income inequality, remove voting restrictions and stimulate political interest and education.

However, there is debate whether it is needed or not as it can increase incident of invalid ballots or incidents of vote buying.

The Effect of Compulsory Voting Laws on Government Spending, a thesis by James Brookie in 2008 showed that there is no significant relationship between compulsory voting laws and government spending.

Another research- Should and Does Compulsory Voting Reduce Inequality? – by Karel Kouba1 and Stanislav Mysicka however showed that compulsory voting can increase electoral participation and thereby contribute to equalizing the political voice across income or education groups.

However, against all odds, some 25 countries are enforcing mandatory votes that vary significantly among these countries, with consequences for non-participation ranging from severe to non-existent. And so, in some countries voting is not a right rather a responsibility to act.