Voter Nonparticipation

the refusal of voters to vote during elections for representatives of organs or for officials. Voter nonparticipation is a widespread phenomenon in bourgeois states. For example, in the USA usually about 40 percent of the voters do not participate in elections. In order to avoid voter nonparticipation, many countries—Italy, Belgium, Greece, Austria, and others—have introduced compulsory suffrage; refusal to participate in elections is punished by a fine and even imprisonment. Voter nonparticipation is, in practice, nonexistent in socialist countries; usually all or nearly all voters take part in elections.