Is voting compulsory in North Korea?

Compulsory (enforced)

Everyone over 17 must vote, though only one candidate appears on the ballot and dissent is punished.

North Korea is one of 15 countries classified “Compulsory (enforced)” for compulsory voting — 9% of the 176 with data. (Also searched as mandatory voting.)

Source

Taken from
Wikipedia: Compulsory voting
Last checked
7 July 2026
How it was classified
Classified by a language model from the source text, then checked against hand-verified reference countries.

Nearby countries

South Korea
Voluntary Voting is voluntary.
Japan
Voluntary Voting is voluntary.
Taiwan
Voluntary Voting is voluntary.
China
Voluntary Voting is voluntary.
Mongolia
Voluntary Voting is voluntary.
Philippines
Compulsory (enforced) Voting was compulsory and enforced in the Philippines during Ferdinand Marcos's regime.

Other laws in North Korea

Voting Age
16–17
Minimum Working Age
16+

Every law in North Korea → · Which countries have compulsory voting? →

A visual reference compiled from Wikipedia’s law-by-country articles, not legal advice. Laws change and summaries simplify — check a primary source before relying on anything here.