What does the author imply about low-turnout elections?
Compulsory voting is said to violate freedom, because a citizen should be as free to abstain as to vote. The objection assumes that compulsion is the same as coercion of opinion. Yet an electoral duty to attend a polling station does not require anyone to support a candidate; blank ballots are allowed in many systems. We already accept compulsory jury service, taxes and, in some countries, military conscription, which interfere with liberty far more. The case for compulsion rests on two facts: elections held with low turnout tend to be won by the groups most likely to vote, and those groups are seldom representative of the whole. It does not follow that compulsion cures disengagement, which may have deeper roots. But it removes one cause of unequal influence.
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: C. They tend to over-represent the groups most likely to vote
- Step 1: The passage says low-turnout elections are won by groups most likely to vote, who are seldom representative.
- Step 2: That is over-representation.
Answer
They tend to over-represent the groups most likely to vote.
Why not the others: 'Always' overstates, the topic of cause by blank ballots is not mentioned, and no claim is made about policy.
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