I reckon we are heading that way now LongNow. There are some "foaming-at-the-mouth lunatics" out there now whipping their base into a frenzy, as you eloquently put it.
We have also endured some unsavoury outcomes already, from 2007 to 2013 comes to mind.
We know many "voters" do go to the Polling booths now, have their name ticked off, and then proceed to scribble obscenities all over the forms...really intelligent stuff.
The UK also does not have compulsory voting and I wouldn't say they are a hell of a lot worse off than Australia.
"A study of the World Fact Book of the American Central Investigation Agency (CIA) and the July 4, 2005 edition of the prestigious British daily “The Guardian” reveals that of the 31 countries with compulsory voting system, around a dozen nations (and Schaffhausen, a province/canton of Switzerland) actually enforce it.
If an eligible voter does not attend polling in many of these countries, he or she may be subject to punitive measures by law.But again, people are only penalised in practice in countries like Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Congo, Ecuador, Peru, Luxembourg, Singapore, Uruguay and the world’s smallest republic of Nauru."
Yep, we are keeping good company...It may be fewer countries that penalise their constituents for not voting now as the above was as of 2005.
