Labour have retained their council seat in Falkirk South following a by-election, but turnout was just 24.9% for the ward.

Claire Aitken held off the challenge of the SNP to eventually triumph in the seventh round, but more than three-quarters of eligible voters opted not to cast a ballot.

That comes after turnout for the general election in the summer was the lowest since universal suffrage was introduced at just 52%.

Several countries around the world have mandatory voting, with fines or other sanctions for those who fail to go to the polls.

In Australia non-voters face a fine of $20 for a first time offence, all the way up to a maximum of $180.

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There are exemptions for things such as illness, religious objections and for those with no fixed address but fines are regularly enforced and turnout averages over 90%.

Belgium, Brazil, Bolivia and Argentina all have mandatory voting and turnouts above 75%, though not all countries actually enforce sanctions in practice.

Proponents argue that compulsory voting lends democratic legitimacy to the winners of elections and stimulates interest in politics.

However, opponents contend it amounts to compelled speech and represents an infringement of civil liberties.

In North Korea voting is mandatory and turnout is over 99% but all candidates are pre-selected by the government and the ballot is not secret.

To vote against a candidate, a citizen would have to ask for a pen to cross out their name on the paper, and in practice elections are used to monitor the populace - for example to discover who may have defected - and voting against the pre-selected candidate is viewed as treason.

Bulgaria passed a law to introduce mandatory voting in 2016 but it was struck down by the Constitutional Court, which held that voting was a subjective right and not an obligation.

Venezuela abolished mandatory voting in 1993 and has since seen turnout fall from an average of around 90% to 62%.

Should voting be mandatory? Have your say in our poll below.