That doesn't sound too bad. Is there a <none of the above> option?

That question brought to mind another one that I have never been able to nut out. How can a country call itself a democracy, and yet attempt to compel its citizens, under threat of sanction, to vote? Australia does this, and it bewilders me. Fortunately for me, the democracy I live in does allow its citizens to choose for themselves whether they wish to participate in the democratic process or not. The idea that someone could be liable to judicial penalty for choosing not to vote seems, to me, to be fundamentally at odds with the spirit and principle of democracy. How say you?