Geo answer

We’re going to the ballot box for today’s Geo Quiz.

ballot box: http://www.flickr.com/photos/binkley27ballot box: http://www.flickr.com/photos/binkley27

No, we’re not looking for states that are holding presidential primaries today — like Ohio and Texas.

We’re not even going to ask you about Russia — which held it’s national presidential vote just a few days ago.

There are dozens of national elections around the globe each year. In most cases, voting is a voluntary activity. That is, you cast a ballot only if you want to.

But there are exceptions.

More than 30 countries REQUIRE their citizens to vote. Non-voters face the possibility of paying a fine or maybe even jail time.

Fiji, Singapore, and Uruguay are examples of places where voting is strictly mandated by law. For our quiz — we want to you to name 3 countries that were among the very first to introduce compulsory national voting.

Vote here: http://flickr.com/photos/winmacVote here: http://flickr.com/photos/winmac

You’ll have to rewind back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries to find the answers.

We’ll tabulate the answer here…

Our Geo quiz today was about mandatory voting laws around the world.

For the answer we consulted The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance based in Stockholm, Sweden.

The institute monitors elections worldwide.

It’s no small job — it estimates that there have been nearly 2,000 national elections since 1945.

The institute also says Belgium was the first country to enact a compulsory voting law way back in 1892.

Argentina did the same in 1914, and Australia made voting mandatory in 1924.

So Belgium, Argentina and Australia are the answers to today’s Geo Quiz.