Should voting be mandatory? Policy Lessons from Peru

Voter turnout in the 2018 presidential elections in Colombia was 54%. On the same year, turnout in the Mexican federal election was 63%. These are not exceptions, as electoral participation has been falling worldwide for the past several decades, which raises concerns about the representativeness of elected officials and the legitimacy of electoral outcomes. Making voting compulsory and ensuring adequate enforcement appear to be plausible and appealing policy remedies.

Join Luis Martinez, Assistant Professor, Harris Public Policy, for a lecture in Bogota to discuss the existing evidence on the effectiveness of compulsory voting and present findings from ongoing research on voters’ response to changes in the fine for electoral abstention in Peru. The analysis illustrates the challenges and limitations of compulsory voting.

Tuesday, July 23, 2019
6:00-8:00 PM

Location:
Fedesarrollo, Cl. 78 ##9-91, Bogotá, Colombia

RSVP by July 20