This paper systematizes the discussion on mandatory voting, articulated around constitutionalism and democratic development. In spite of the centrality that this reflection is taking, particularly in the way of understanding the electoral systems, it ends up being overcome by the irruption of voluntary voting. Thus, constitutions that maintain mandatory voting are today an exception in Europe and Latin America (out of 205 countries, only 24 of them maintain mandatory voting), and the predominance of voluntary voting it is not being accompanied by a consistent debate that justifies the change. The lack of discussion is compounded by a crisis of representative democracy, expressed not only in a growing disinterest in electoral participation, but also in a loss of confidence in institutions and political parties. In this context, re-articulating the debate on compulsory voting and thinking about rescuing some of its foundations seems to us to be entirely relevant in the light of the establishment of new mechanisms of participation that enhance representative democracy and the role of political parties.
