{"id":724266,"date":"2023-10-11T11:04:03","date_gmt":"2023-10-11T09:04:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=724266"},"modified":"2023-10-11T11:04:03","modified_gmt":"2023-10-11T09:04:03","slug":"this-is-how-many-people-actually-vote-in-south-africa-vs-the-uk-usa-australia-and-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/724266\/this-is-how-many-people-actually-vote-in-south-africa-vs-the-uk-usa-australia-and-more\/","title":{"rendered":"This is how many people actually vote in South Africa vs the UK, USA, Australia and more"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

South Africa has voter turnout figures on par with many developed nations across the world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Analysts at Picodi.com<\/a><\/strong> South Africa tracked the voter turnout statistics in 187 countries over the last three elections, presidential or parliamentary, and calculated the average voter turnout. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

From 2009 to 2019, South Africa’s average voter turnout was 72.28%, placing it 62nd out of the 187 countries investigated. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a similar percentage of eligible citizens going to vote was seen in Germany (74.75%), Austria (73.59%) and Italy (70.68%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Africa also had higher voter turnout than the UK (67.41%) and the USA (55.50%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Australia, one of the major emigration hotspots for South Africans, has the ninth-highest voter turnout in the world, at 90.94%. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Africa, South Africa came 12th out of 48, whilst Africa’s largest economy, Nigeria, had the smallest turnout at 29.15%. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vietnam is the global leader, as 99.10% of citizens participated in elections. This was followed by Laos and Rwanda at 98.55% and 96.65%, respectively. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Haiti had the lowest turnout of any country in the world, with only 21.58% of Haitians participating in elections, followed by Nigeria (29.15%) and Afghanistan (32.71%)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not always a good thing <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Looking at the voter turnout statistics, it is worth remembering that high turnout does not always mean high social engagement and trust in the local government,” Picodi said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Some countries, such as Luxembourg, Belgium, Bolivia and Uruguay, introduced compulsory voting law, according to which sanctions such as a financial penalty can be imposed on citizens who fail to participate in the elections.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Some governments may also abuse their power to manipulate the elections, including the voter turnout.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It should also be noted that South Africa’s voter turnout has been nosediving over recent years: <\/p>\n\n\n\n