I don't think it would mean the end of civilization, but I'm not generally in favour of it. I would prefer a system that makes it valuable to vote rather than compulsory to vote. The notion of making people vote who don't want to could lead to unanticipated consequences. Some studies have shown what's called, for some reason, the “donkey effect”, where people just tick off the top choice. The accident of where you sit on a ballot matters. I would rather make voting attractive than compulsory.
On July 27th, 2016. See this statement in context.