New Zealand again leads the way...
"Voter turnout
Definition:
General elections:
The proportion of the estimated voting-age population (aged 18 years and over) who cast a vote in general elections.
International comparison:
Using a different definition of voter turnout (the proportion of the registered population who voted), New Zealand ranked 10th out of 30 OECD countries with a voter turnout rate of 79 percent in 2008.81 This was higher than the OECD median of 72 percent for recent elections. Voter turnout in New Zealand was lower than that of Australia, where voting is compulsory (95 percent in 2007), but higher than Canada (59 percent in 2008), the United Kingdom (65 percent in 2010) and the United States (62 percent in 2008)."
http://socialreport.msd.govt.nz/civil-political-rights/voter-turnout.html
This is why I push for an increase in voter registration. If the data in #50 were adjusted to include those who are eligible to vote, but who fail to register, the turnout figures would surely drop by more than 'X' percentage points.
This, I contend, leaves the Power in our Democracy where it ought to be, in the hands of the enfranchised population.
If/when everybody that has the franchise chooses to employ it there would be no such thing as a safe seat, and as I have said before, the moment this became a recognisable trend Party Politics and the options for us all for the future would change.
