Home > 6 Political parties > Comparative Report on thresholds and other features of electoral systems which bar parties from access to Parliament
 
 
 
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Paragraph 22
 

Moreover, factors such as particular administration of voting facilities, frequency of elections, citizenship franchise qualification, as well as the institute of compulsory voting, can also lead to the same effect of restricting/enhancing opportunities for access. It has been suggested, for example, that under a compulsory voting regime (at the level of national parliamentary elections it occurs, for instance, in Belgium, Greece, Luxembourg, Italy, while in Austria and Switzerland it is used in some of the Länder/cantons) voters who are otherwise not inclined to vote might, out of their dissatisfaction with the major parties, “cast a protest vote”. This often goes to a radical (usually a minor) party