compulsory voting at one time or another. From 1862 to 1998, compulsory voting was enacted in 20 democracies, most of which were in Western Europe or Latin America. Belgium has the oldest extant compulsory voting system which was introduced in 1893 for men, and in 1948 for women.

Compulsory voting for national elections was introduced in Australia in 1924, with states and territories passing their own compulsory voting laws at various times. Voluntary voting in Australia before 1924 accounted between 47%