The results of our forthcoming general election will be a dish for politicians, academics and the media to pick over, dissect and scrutinise.

Voter turnout will once again be at the heart of the debate. Will it exceed the 60 per cent turnout of previous years? Or will the legitimacy of the newly elected government be undermined by a poor show at the ballot box?

Voter apathy has been a recurring concern for political parties in the UK but some countries have taken the right to vote and turned it into a constitutional duty by introducing compulsory voting.

Dr Robin Pettitt, lecturer in comparative politics at Kingston University, explains: “Democracy is more legitimate if there is a certain level of turnout. If turnout drops below a certain level – then it’s a problem for democracy.”

“On the other hand the point of democracy is that people should be free. It doesn’t make sense if you force people to engage as free people in a democratic process.”

In countries like Australia and Belgium where voting is compulsory, turnout is typically above 90 per cent. Punishment for non-voters is usually a fine, which seems to be enough motivation to drive so many people to the polling station.

But perhaps unsurprisingly the number of blank or invalid votes counted in countries with compulsory voting is unusually high, suggesting some voters may be having the last laugh.

The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) was set up in 1945 to collect electoral data across the globe to inform and support democratic reform.

Ola Pettersson, assistant programme officer at IDEA said: "If you look at the countries which have the highest voter turnout, it is fairly clear that compulsory voting increases participation in elections. People also tend to learn about politics when they are forced to vote, so it can be a civic education measure.

"The main drawback is how motivated are you to participate when you are being forced to do it rather than doing it on your own free will? Is voting a duty of every citizen or is it a privilege?"

Ultimately Petersson believes turnout numbers in most democracies are affected by more than whether people simply want to go and vote.

In many countries, security and conflict don’t stop on election days making a trip to the polling station a dangerous undertaking. Following Sri Lanka’s election in January, the state confirmed an average voter turnout of 70 per cent, which was almost on a level with previous elections. But in the northern city of Jaffna , turnout was only 20 per cent, and local authorities had reported a number of explosions in the days and hours before the election.

In Afghanistan similar events overshadowed the latest elections. Last year only 30 to 35 per cent of the electorate cast a vote, giving a shaky start to president Hamid Karzai’s second term in office.

Asmatullah Yoqhubi, a first year Kingston University journalism student left Afghanistan eight years ago. “In Afghanistan people were excited about being given the chance for the first time to go and vote but at the same time they know it is not going to work. My family took part in the elections. They don’t bother about security, they would go and vote in any circumstances. But they sort of know that because of corruption their vote is not going to count.”

The suspicion of corruption is also rife in countries closer to home, including Eastern Europe. A recent poll carried out in the run up to the January Ukraine elections found that 82 per cent of respondents expected vote rigging.

Pettersson describes “political distrust” as something which can undermine the confidence and will of voters to turn up at the ballot box. It becomes unimportant which party wins as in the eye of the people “all politicians are the same”.

In Italy, voter turnout has been the highest on average for the last fifty years, partly due to compulsory voting which was in place until 1993. Ilaria Favretto, professor in contemporary european history at Kingston University also believes that beyond this, Italians are driven to vote because the political parties are so polarised.

“For left and centre-left voters, Berlusconi and his coalition are the 'devil'. At the same time when elections approach, you can still read in the conservative press farcical declarations by centre-right candidates on what will happen if the 'communists' win.

She added: “For many voters their favourite coalition's victory is a matter of life or death.”