¿Por qué se aprobó el voto voluntario en Chile? Razones y argumentos que impulsaron la reforma
¿Por qué se aprobó el voto voluntario en Chile? Razones y argumentos que impulsaron la reforma
Authors
Morales Quiroga, Mauricio
Contreras, Gonzalo
Contreras, Gonzalo
Authors
Date
2019-06-27
Datos de publicación:
Revista Chilena de Derecho y Ciencia Política, Vol. 8, N°2, 105-138, 2017
Keywords
Voto voluntario - Diputados
Collections
Abstract
Teóricamente, con voto voluntario baja la participación electoral y tienden a votar más los ricos que los pobres, generando lo que la literatura denomina como sesgo de clase. Entonces, ¿qué lleva a los políticos a optar por un régimen de voto voluntario? Considerando el caso de Chile, nuestro objetivo es identificar las razones que impulsaron la reforma. Metodológicamente, utilizamos tres fuentes de información: discusión legislativa, encuestas de opinión y una inédita encuesta
aplicada al 100% de los diputados luego de aprobada la reforma. Nuestros resultados indican que la reforma se aprobó producto de la interacción entre intereses estratégicos de la coalición de gobierno (de centro-izquierda) y de la oposición. Mientras el gobierno impulsó la reforma creyendo que los nuevos votantes serían principalmente de centro-izquierda, la derecha lo hizo pensando en que sus nuevos
electores tendrían mayor probabilidad de votar dado su mayor nivel de ingresos. A esto se sumó un amplio apoyo ciudadano a la reforma expresado en las encuestas, lo que pudo presionar a los diputados. Constatamos que en la centro-izquierda
hubo rápidas señales de arrepentimiento, pues el 70% de los diputados –en una encuesta hecha a meses de la reforma– se mostró partidario del voto obligatorio
Theoretically, a voluntary vote results in low voter turnout and a stronger tendency to vote among the rich than the poor, generating what the literature calls class bias. So what leads politicians to opt for a voluntary voting regime? The object of this article is to identify the reasons that led to the reform in Chile. In methodological terms, we used three sources of information: legislative discussion, opinion polls and an unpublished survey applied to 100% of deputies some months after the reform was passed. Our results indicate that the reform was passed as a result of interaction between the strategic interests of the (center-left) government coalition and the opposition. While the coalition pushed for reform thinking that new voters would be primarily center-left, the right wing supported the proposal in the belief that their new voters would be more likely to vote given their higher income. To this was added broad citizen support for the reform expressed in opinion polls, which may have pressured the deputies. We found that in the center-left there were quick signs of repentance, since in a survey carried out some months after the reform 70% of the deputies were in favor of compulsory voting
Theoretically, a voluntary vote results in low voter turnout and a stronger tendency to vote among the rich than the poor, generating what the literature calls class bias. So what leads politicians to opt for a voluntary voting regime? The object of this article is to identify the reasons that led to the reform in Chile. In methodological terms, we used three sources of information: legislative discussion, opinion polls and an unpublished survey applied to 100% of deputies some months after the reform was passed. Our results indicate that the reform was passed as a result of interaction between the strategic interests of the (center-left) government coalition and the opposition. While the coalition pushed for reform thinking that new voters would be primarily center-left, the right wing supported the proposal in the belief that their new voters would be more likely to vote given their higher income. To this was added broad citizen support for the reform expressed in opinion polls, which may have pressured the deputies. We found that in the center-left there were quick signs of repentance, since in a survey carried out some months after the reform 70% of the deputies were in favor of compulsory voting