- In the last presidential election,
44% of Americans did not vote.
That puts you in 26th position among developed countries.
That's pathetic.
You should be ashamed of yourself.
That's garbage.
It's so garbage that in 2016 Trump got elected
with only a quarter of eligible voters supporting him.
That is a broken system.
Some politics nerds are proposing a solution.
- [Voiceover] Jury duty and taxes are mandatory,
so why not voting?
- But America is the land of the free where the whole point
is to do anything you want, even dress up as fat Iron Man
in Times Squares on a Tuesday afternoon.
So, can you really force Americans to vote?
Do you think in America voting should be compulsory?
- I think it should, but it's not gonna happen
because people won't even wear masks.
- If we were told to do something, at this point, exactly.
(beeps) it, we wouldn't do it.
- Do you think America would ever accept mandatory voting?
- Definitely not.
- Why not?
- Ah, because Americans are lazy in general.
- America is the land of the free.
People come here because it's a free place.
- And that includes the freedom to not have discipline?
- Yeah, pretty much.
- Do you think mandatory voting can happen in America?
- No (laughs), I do not.
I do not.
I think that American values are, like, a toxic version
of what freedom is.
- Isn't that what makes America great?
- It's not so great at the moment.
- Maybe Americans think it's impossible,
but mandatory voting does exist in 22 countries,
including one that's even drunker,
crazier and righter than the US.
I'm talking about Australia where they've had it since 1922.
- It was quite a small step for Australians to think,
well, we want the majority of people to be selecting
our government, and that gives a greater legitimacy.
- So, basically in Australia, you force people
to exercise their democratic rights?
- That's right, yes, that's right.
I don't think people in Australia
regard it as a particularly big deal to turn up
on election day, which is a Saturday.
You know, it might take you, like, 15 minutes
and the Parents and Teachers Association
will be there selling sausages,
and that's where we get the term "Democracy Sausage".
- Okay, for Americans, the term "Democracy Sausage"
has had a bad taste since the Clinton administration.
But for Australians, consuming charred intestine meat
on bread has been a voting tradition since the 1940s,
but what about the people who don't think a sausage sizzle
is enough incentive to vote?
What kind of punishment do you have to enforce
to make it so that over 90% of people go and vote?
Jail time?
Public spanking?
Do you have to wear an "I didn't vote" sticker?
- It's a $20 fine.
- That's it?
That's a bargain, I think.
- Look, there's big advantages in our system
because political parties don't have to get the vote out,
and that means they don't have to appeal to the base.
So, you don't get the same sort of extreme ideological
appeals, and so it makes our democracy,
I think, more moderate.
- Doesn't that make your election process very boring?
- Well, (laughs) make it boring.
Look, I don't know that that's a problem.
For me, what democracy means is that the majority
of people participate, and I find the extent
of voter suppression in the United States truly shocking.
I don't understand how the Americans can call themselves
a democracy at all.
- Damn, political science one star is gonna love this.
But how do everyday Australians see it?
I took a 25-hour flight and spent two weeks in quarantine
just so I could talk with them myself
in sunny Brisbane, Australia.
What do you feel about the fact that voting
is compulsory in Australia?
- I feel very proud that it is,
and for people who don't want to vote,
they should go and live somewhere else.
- Everybody has to decide and it's mandatory to vote
so if the result doesn't go your way, you can't complain.
If we lose, oh, we're sad, but at least we've had a chance
to vote, and that's it, brother.
Done.
- Just do it.
It takes five minutes.
You just go in there, vote, and get out.
No time, no effort.
Just shut the (beeps) up and vote.
- What do you guys think
about mandatory voting in Australia?
- I think it's pretty bullshit.
- Yeah, not a fan of it.
We don't care what we vote.
We just go in there and tick a few boxes
and then fingers crossed we get the right one.
I don't know.
- Are you guys drunk right now?
- Yeah, we had a few beers before, a couple of pints.
- Couple of beers, a couple of shots.
Beer with breakie, you know?
- Man, that is (beeps) Australian.
But why do you think voting isn't mandatory in America?
- Oh maybe, I mean--
- Yeah, now I rethink it, actually.
- Maybe there's a purpose for it.
- America, Australia, which one's doing better?
- I feel like I'm a witness
to cavemen discovering fire right now.
- Yeah, that's fair enough, actually, yeah.
- Even drunk Australian bros can see the benefits
of mandatory voting.
But for America, the good news is that voter turnout
in 2020 is on track to hit record levels.
All we needed to get people to vote was to elect
Donald Trump, and then guess what?
People turn up.
We don't need to force people to vote.
- Well, that's a pretty big price to pay.
I'd rather pay a $20 fine
than have to put up with President Trump for four years.
- Touche, Judith.
But hopefully one day Americans will also learn
to enjoy the sweet, sweet taste of democracy sausage
as much as our drunk vote-loving mates down under.
Thank you.