Abstract

Citizens of democratic societies often abstain from voting in political elections. This paper develops a novel account of why such electoral abstention is morally permitted. The paper argues that the moral right not to vote should be interpreted as an exclusionary permission not to vote - i.e. a permission not to respond to the reasons that in principle favour voting. And citizens fundamentally enjoy that permission because of their moral entitlement to moral autonomy. By developing this argument, the paper improves upon existing justifictations of the right to vote, and aims to help the general public figure out what the legitimate place of electoral abstention is within a democratic society.