Singh, Shane P. 2015. “Compulsory Voting and the Turnout Decision Calculus.” Political Studies 63(3): 548–68.
In order to determine how compulsory systems of voting affect the demographics of those who do end up going to polls, the author analyzes comparative data from various countries, as well as comparative data from Swiss cantons. He first lists the countries and cantons, and whether or not they have either voluntary voting, “weak” compulsory voting, or “strong” compulsory voting. (Varying levels of penalties for failing to vote) He then compares the differences in socioeconomic distribution of those who voted in the varying systems.
The author found that in countries where voting is mandatory, socioeconomic groups that are usually bad at turning out in countries with voluntary voting end up voting at similar rates to groups that usually turn out consistently.
