Mandatory Voting in Ecuador

Voting in Ecuador is mandatory for citizens between 18 and 65 years old. This is enforced through fines and legal restrictions. As a consequence it is rational for an Ecuadorian citizen to vote since the costs of not voting are higher than those of voting on Election Day. The reasoning behind mandatory voting is that voting is considered a civil duty more than a right, strengthens the country’s democratic foundation, and according to representatives of the National Electoral Council, Ecuador’s democratic and civic values are not solid enough to hold voluntary voting. Additionally, mandatory voting allows for minorities and marginalized communities to participate in public decisions. 

Given Ecuador’s political instability, I believe Johnson’s argument of rational ignorance does not hold for the entire population.  For the high and middle class, I believe that the country’s political instability and limitless authority of the government is an incentive for voters to gather all the information possible before casting their votes. In addition, geographical and societal proximity to the economical and political niches decrease the cost of being informed. However, it is different for lower income and rural voters. Their expected benefits from a specific candidate’s victory are small while their cost of being informed are very high due to the lack of education, technology and other factors such as distance. These voters are easy to convince and influence, and represent a large percentage of the voting population. As a result, in Ecuador’s election process Johnson’s idea of a poor quality of issue related information holds. Candidates have an incentive to distort and limit the information presented to voters, especially those in the lower income brackets, with less education and knowledge about politics.

Mandatory voting does not necessarily help Ecuador’s democracy as politicians can keep away information from voters because they can target low-income voters who choose to be ignorant. A solution to this problem would be to improve education across all socioeconomic classes so that voters are better equipped to make a political decision.