Compulsory voting
Compulsory voting is an effect of laws which require eligible citizens to register and vote in elections, and may impose penalties on those who fail to do so. , 22 countries provide for compulsory voting, and 11 democracies — about 5% of all United Nations members — enforce it.
Voter turnout
Sanctions for non-voting behaviour were foreseen sometimes even in absence of a formal requirement
to vote. In Italy the Constitution describes voting as a duty (art. 48), though electoral participation is not obligatory. From 1946 to 1992, thus, the Italian electoral law included light sanctions for non-voters (lists of non-voters were posted at polling stations). Turnout rates have not declined substantially since 1992 in Italy, though, pointing to other factors than compulsory voting to explain high electoral participation.