Replication Data for: Politically Unengaged, Distrusting, and Disaffected Individuals Drive the Link Between Compulsory Voting and Invalid Balloting

Invalid ballots are relatively common in countries with compulsory voting, yet there is no cross-national evidence as to who is more likely to cast a blank or spoiled ballot where voting is forced. I argue that increased rates of blank and spoiled balloting where voting is obligatory result from the behavior of the politically unknowledgeable, uninterested, untrusting, and disaffected, who are incentivized to turn out to the polls where they can be sanctioned for abstention. To test this, I conduct an individual-level examination of the influence of compulsory voting on invalid balloting across countries. I find support for my expectations with analyses of survey data from several American democracies, many of which compel electoral participation.

强制投票（compulsory voting）国家中，无效票的出现相对普遍，但目前尚无跨国层面的实证证据表明，在强制投票制度下，哪类群体更有可能投出空白票或废票（blank or spoiled ballot）。本文认为，强制投票语境下空白票与废票率的上升，源于政治无知、缺乏政治兴趣、不信任政治体制且心怀不满的群体的行为——这些群体因会因弃权而受到处罚，从而有动力前往投票站投票。为验证这一研究假说，本文开展了跨国个体层面的分析，以考察强制投票对无效投票的影响。通过对多个美洲民主国家的调查数据进行实证分析，本文的研究预期得到了支持，其中多数国家均强制要求选民参与选举投票。