Absenteeism is a voluntary withdrawal from the electoral process

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:54

People who drink absinthe look absent. They seem to be, but in fact … The Latin word "absentia" means exactly "absence".

A voter who does not want to exercise his constitutional right shows absenteeism. This means an expression of political protest, so it’s not enough just not to come to the polling station, you need to do everything to demonstrate your non-attendance to as many fellow citizens as possible. Otherwise, the usual apoliticality takes place, and sometimes simple human laziness.

Demonstrative manifestations of discontent in the Soviet years were resolutely fought. By the end of election day, lists of those who did not come to the polling station at the place of residence were prepared, then members of the election commission went to the indicated addresses, taking with them a portable sealed ballot box.

When they found the tenant, they politely asked the reason for the absence, and if it was valid, they offered to vote right at home. Those who were dissatisfied (usually with the work of the housing and communal services) were exhorted, promised to fix everything (sometimes they even carried outpromised), and also asked to fill out a ballot. The work was not easy, its quality was assessed by the percentage of citizens who voted. Understanding the reason for the non-appearance (absenteeism or just the tenant of such and such an apartment was too lazy to leave the house), listen to angry tirades about the current roof, resolve conflict situations - all this was the lot of the members of the election commission.

But this all took place in the days of late socialism, nicknamed "mature" in the seventies. In the Stalin years, there were ways of how to overcome absenteeism. It is, first of all, fear. People were afraid that they would be considered dissatisfied, they would think that they "do not like the Soviet regime." And in the difficult post-war period, nicknamed the “hunger strike of the 47th,” even pies sold in buffets at a symbolic price were an incentive to participate in the national elections.

As a rule, mass absenteeism is a clear sign of public dissatisfaction with government policies, which is why totalitarian regimes try so hard to create the impression of popular support for their course. In the USSR, North Korea, China and practically in all other socialist countries, according to official data, at least 95% of voters came to the polling stations, they had fun, sang, danced, and, characteristically, everyone was in favor. Newsreels recorded for history this triumph of the people's will.

The result of the struggle for unanimity was the general understanding of the unfortunate fact that one hundred percent turnout and absenteeism are practically notionsidentical, and unanimous presence equals total absence.

But what about countries with long democratic traditions? Everything here is also not very simple. True, absenteeism and its causes differ from the situation in the field of the will of citizens of totalitarian states. Residents of the Italian Republic, if they fail to appear at the elections, are subject to moral sanctions, in Mexico they are fined, and in Austria and Greece they can even be imprisoned for a period of a month to a year, apparently depending on the degree of cynicism and neglect shown in relation to the electoral legislation.

Despite such harsh measures, in countries with a democratic form of government, the turnout of half or more of the capable population is considered normal. Usually this figure ranges from 50 to 70%, reaching a maximum in especially critical cases, when really crucial issues of the future social order and the vector of further development are being decided.

The reasons for absenteeism can lie both in the facelessness of candidates running for a particular post (when there is no one to choose from), and in a general attitude to the political system of the state, besides, a certain percentage of voters are convinced political nihilists who they don't vote on principle.