What Exactly Is A Duty To Vote ?

A duty to vote may be interpreted narrowly as no more than an obligation to cast one’s ballot, supporting a party or candidate in one’s own interest exclusively or, if one so pleases, with some regard for the community as a whole. Alternatively, a duty to vote may be interpreted broadly as including an obligation to vote for the party or candidate seen as best for society as a whole. This essay is a defence of the narrower, less stringent, duty, with no obligation about whom to vote for except in so far as viciousness or outright injustice is expected from the election of a party or candidates for office.