"I've spent most of my life advocating compulsory voting, reminding my American friends how Australia is different but I'm starting to question that," Simon Jackman, chief executive of US Studies Centre at Sydney University. Credit:Sean Davey Modelling done by Professor Jackman shows compulsory voting, which a parliamentary report once described "as Australian as eating Vegemite," creates a steady guaranteed supply of disgruntled voters that cannot exit the system. "It is enabling and delivering to the polls a bunch of mad as hell voters that would probably have stayed at home," he said. Professor Jackman said those voters are typically alienated, distracted and feel as though the major parties are not speaking to them.

If you are that sort of person you are much more likely to do two things," said Professor Jackman. "One, express a preference for the non-mainstream parties and, two, not vote." Former Liberal minister, now New York consul-general Nick Minchin Credit:Glen McCurtayne The analysis of 2016 Australian election data shows up to 28 per cent of Australians are in favour of voluntary voting and up to 19 per cent might not or would not have voted if it had been voluntary. Of those who definitely would not have voted up to 46 per cent would have voted for minor parties in the Senate, where the Turnbull government now faces an entrenched political gridlock. Minister for Defence Industry Christopher Pyne Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

In contrast to the preferential voting system of the House of Representatives, Senators are elected once a quota of votes are reached without needing a majority. "It's a perfect storm in some ways with compulsory voting, the proportional election method of Senate election and the double dissolution," said Professor Jackman. Voting is voluntary in the US, where parties spend a large portion of their budget encouraging people to the polls. Credit:Mark Humphrey A 1996 Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters recommended that compulsory voting be repealed because political parties had "conspired to use the law to maximise voter turnout at election," whereas in all but the 32 countries with compulsory voting the turnout is encouraged by the parties themselves. The recommendation, led by John Howard's former minister for finance Nick Minchin - who described Australia's laws as "the blight of compulsion" - was rejected by the Labor government and the Democrats.

Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne warned at the time that parties would have to devote up to 25 per cent of their budgets to push people to the polls while also cautioning against potential corruption that might involve "people being paid to vote." A second Electoral Matters committee report in 2005 recommended "compulsory voting be the subject of a future inquiry". Professor Jackman believes the current Senate gridlock could be the trigger. "You could easily see a world where Labor and the Coalition could ram this through," he said. Professor Jackman said that any cartel-style move would be self-serving as the higher cost of getting people out to vote would shut the gates to smaller players.

"The Greens and strong grassroots parties would do well, but it would be devastating to the One Nations, the Xenophons and the Family Firsts of the world," he said. Follow us on Facebook