It's compulsary to vote in Australia.

[DanielBell]

Discuss.

Why? Why don't we have the freedom not to vote? AFAIK even putting a blank ballot paper in the slot is illegal.. Not enforcable though.

Why should you be fined for not voting? People who are not interested in politics and don't pay attention to it will only vote blindly anyway for the party that could afford more air time.

What do you guys think? Australians?

I'm a kiwi so I can't vote although i'd like to (one day, i'll nationalise :P).. 9/10 of my workmates couldn't expain thier vote, they just said they did it cos they have to. I know one guy who was fined for not registering.

I think it's just weird.

[Vaper]

i havent voted for the past 5 years and i havent got any fines or anything so yea i dont know what happened there

[xer0xed]

Legislation forcing people to vote accomplishes nothing, protects no person/thing/property, and actually pollutes the political process. I think it's absurd. =/

[DanielBell]

i havent voted for the past 5 years and i havent got any fines or anything so yea i dont know what happened there

I know people who havn't voted for longer.. If they catch you, you get fined.

There are people who do door to door checking if you are registered. Havn't you seen it? I had one guy come to my house when I stayed with a friend and him nor his gf had never voted (they were about 24 at the time), they weren't home so I just told the guy i'm sure they are registered and he said he would come back, but he never did.

[Lloyd Braun]

What happens if you don't like any of the candidates?

[IraHays]

Forcing people to vote.

LMAO, if that is not the biggest contradiction I have ever seen.

They should put it on the ballot:

Should citizens be forced to vote? lol

[deeyala]

Around here "Once a voter, always a voter" :D

Basically once you register for one poll or so, you will have to drag yourself to every poll/ election or you will be fined (doesn't matter if you don't have an opinion about the polling subject)

Messed up systems..
They're basically trying to ensure that people Will get interested in politics and get active in their choices.
So if you vote for someone you don't know the first time because you had to, they'd think the next time you will make sure to use your voice wisely.

I think it works with some..

O/T I was once dragged out of class, by a professor, to vote on the Student Council elections in my school
When i replied i won't vote for people i don't know (I didn't know any of the candidates) he told me it was my duty to get myself familiar with those who will represent me!!!
It was a couple of years ago and up to this day, i don't know if the people i voted for won or not.. ! :D
I think this is the same attitude the government adapts.

[DanielBell]

What happens if you don't like any of the candidates?

I've heard people say they just vote greens when they don't like the majors, I think it's silly. I'd personally just get my name crossed off and put a blank form in, but you shouldn't have to.

[deeyala]

They should put it on the ballot:

Should citizens be forced to vote? lol

:D LOLZ

[DanielBell]

Forcing people to vote.

LMAO, if that is not the biggest contradiction I have ever seen.

They should put it on the ballot:

Should citizens be forced to vote? lol

I think this should be scrapped and if it's constitutional put it on the same referendum we vote on to piss the queen off... Soon, soon!

[IraHays]

I think this should be scrapped and if it's constitutional put it on the same referendum we vote on to piss the queen off... Soon, soon!

LOL

[Couldbebigga]

Compulsory voting is SOOO much better.

If voting weren't compulsory then you would have political parties buying votes, harrasing people to vote, threatening others to not vote etc.

And people often say, "But if somebody makes an un-iformed vote what good is it?". Well, what is an un-informed vote?

I could spend every waking hour studying the policies of each party and still make an un-informed choice because I missed something.

I could be biased toward one political party and no matter what their policy I would vote for them. That's even worse than an un-informed vote.

[xer0xed]

Forcing people to vote.

LMAO, if that is not the biggest contradiction I have ever seen.

They should put it on the ballot:

Should citizens be forced to vote? lol

Another contradiction lies in the fact that people's decision not to vote might, in fact, be a vote against all of the proposed candidates.

[IraHays]

Another contradiction lies in the fact that people's decision not to vote might, in fact, be a vote against all of the proposed candidates.

True. But all things being equal I would rather have an informed voter.

[Couldbebigga]

True. But all things being equal I would rather have an informed voter.

What is an informed voter to you?

[IraHays]

What is an informed voter to you?

Someone that knows the canditates and their platforms.

[Couldbebigga]

Someone that knows the canditates and their platforms.

To what level?

[IraHays]

To what level?

I'm not sure what you mean? You either know the candidates/platforms or you don't?

[Couldbebigga]

I'm not sure what you mean? You either know the candidates/platforms or you don't?

So pretty easy stuff huh? i.e. Candidate A is for government run childcare, candidate B is for privatised health care. Stuff like that right?

That's the kind of thing you are reminded of right before you vote (here in Oz anyway0. You get forms handed to you from each candidate saying what they stand for. So anyone who can read should be informed.

So, unless you deliberately avoided being informed, then noone would be right?

[IraHays]

So pretty easy stuff huh? i.e. Candidate A is for government run childcare, candidate B is for privatised health care. Stuff like that right?



I get you now. A little more then that I would say. More important then the goals is how they plan on acheiving them.

It thinks it's cool they pass out fliers to educate the voters. They usually do that in the states through the local paper. But I find them to be pretty biased.

[Couldbebigga]

I get you now. A little more then that I would say. More important then the goals is how they plan on acheiving them.

It thinks it's cool they pass out fliers to educate the voters. They usually do that in the states through the local paper. But I find them to be pretty biased.

That's exactly where I come from (your very last sentence) when I ask, "What is an informed voter?" Because, let's face it, you could be the assistant of the actual candidate and still not know half of what he's doing, why he's doing it and what the consequences are of voting him in.

So then you have to ask, how do I get informed? Well, you can't really get fully informed. Your own biases plus the biases of those who are feeding you the information stop you from being fully informed.

That's why I say it's much better to have compulsory voting. Because noone can ever be "fully informed". Therefore, the idea of someone making a last minute decision at the polling booth isn't so far removed from someone making a decision after a year of research.

[DanielBell]

When I go to work and get into discussions on who people voted for and all I ask is "Why did you vote for them?" and that ends the discussion I start to wonder why they vote at all.

Obviously the factory I work in houses many Labor supporters, the problem is 10% of them could give me a breif on why they support the Labor party. The rest vote Labor because the Union delegate said Libs will take all your rights and eat your babies.

Everyone is entitled to thier opinion and thier say so I think even the voters who don't know anything shold be allowed to vote if they WANT to, if they don't want to they shouldn't be forced.

IMO they forfeit thier right to complain about any government policy though. Not formally but you know what I mean.

[Beatitude]

Discuss.

Why? Why don't we have the freedom not to vote? AFAIK even putting a blank ballot paper in the slot is illegal.. Not enforcable though.

Why should you be fined for not voting? People who are not interested in politics and don't pay attention to it will only vote blindly anyway for the party that could afford more air time.

What do you guys think? Australians?

I'm a kiwi so I can't vote although i'd like to (one day, i'll nationalise :P).. 9/10 of my workmates couldn't expain thier vote, they just said they did it cos they have to. I know one guy who was fined for not registering.

I think it's just weird.

Cause you guys had the highest proportional amount of casulties in WWI, and it was seen that it was every citizens duty to particapate in voting. It's not a bad law, besides, not voting is what, a slap on the wrist? I wish the US had Aussies mandatory voting and preferential system, it's like 50x better.

[IraHays]

That's exactly where I come from (your very last sentence) when I ask, "What is an informed voter?" Because, let's face it, you could be the assistant of the actual candidate and still not know half of what he's doing, why he's doing it and what the consequences are of voting him in.

So then you have to ask, how do I get informed? Well, you can't really get fully informed. Your own biases plus the biases of those who are feeding you the information stop you from being fully informed.

That's why I say it's much better to have compulsory voting. Because noone can ever be "fully informed". Therefore, the idea of someone making a last minute decision at the polling booth isn't so far removed from someone making a decision after a year of research.

I disagree. Getting info at the last second is not the same as researching the candidates before the vote. You can judge them by their history and their record of "keeping promises". Their is nothing wrong with your OWN biases, that is how you come to a decision. Reading a newspaper that doesn't stick to the issues but opts to editorialize what should be nothing but facts in order to sway voters is not appropriate.

I don't know how you can say a person who has researched for a year is not far removed from someone glancing at a piece of paper minutes before he votes.

[xer0xed]

IMO they forfeit thier right to complain about any government policy though. Not formally but you know what I mean.

Not necessarily. As I mentioned earlier (above), the decision not to vote could, in itself, be considered a vote.

[Beatitude]

The only thing that worries me about mandatory voting is that how seriously will the people that don't want to actually vote take it? If that law was implemented in America, I'd be afraid of 50% of Americans randomly voting for the Ralph Nader out of spite.

[Couldbebigga]

I disagree. Getting info at the last second is not the same as researching the candidates before the vote. You can judge them by their history and their record of "keeping promises". Their is nothing wrong with your OWN biases, that is how you come to a decision. Reading a newspaper that doesn't stick to the issues but opts to editorialize what should be nothing but facts in order to sway voters is not appropriate.

I don't know how you can say a person who has researched for a year is not far removed from someone glancing at a piece of paper minutes before he votes.


So you think the person who does a years worth of research will always come to a better decision than someone who does it on the spot? I dunno. Look at the other post on here about Sean Penn. He's done a lot of research. Does he have a clue?

*Not many people decide on the spot, only stoners etc that don't pay any attention to the world around them.

[Itchy Nads]

Discuss.

Why? Why don't we have the freedom not to vote? AFAIK even putting a blank ballot paper in the slot is illegal.. Not enforcable though.

Why should you be fined for not voting? People who are not interested in politics and don't pay attention to it will only vote blindly anyway for the party that could afford more air time.

What do you guys think? Australians?

I'm a kiwi so I can't vote although i'd like to (one day, i'll nationalise :P).. 9/10 of my workmates couldn't expain thier vote, they just said they did it cos they have to. I know one guy who was fined for not registering.

I think it's just weird.

Not a problem for me. I vote for whatever party isn't Labor, Democrat, Green, One Nation, Family First or any other ****ty fringe party. Because they're all idiots who are intent on destroying the most robust economy in the Asia Pacific region outside of China in the name of preventing global warming, which is a crock of **** as it is.

[Itchy Nads]

By the way - the fine for not voting should be more. At least be funny and donkey vote if need be. But if voting wasn't mandatory, people wouldn't vote at all - then they'd still bitch about the party in power.

[fkn_give_me_abs]

i think it's better to have compulsory voting than non-compulsory. That way certain groups with an agenda won't completely dominate the voting.

one major problem i see with compulsory though, that has been addressed above, is that many people don't even care about politics and vote for a group that easily won't win.

I think more preparation should be given to high school children about politics, and how important it actually is to understand the different political parties and what they stand for.

[run213]

i think it's better to have compulsory voting than non-compulsory. That way certain groups with an agenda won't completely dominate the voting.

one major problem i see with compulsory though, that has been addressed above, is that many people don't even care about politics and vote for a group that easily won't win.

I think more preparation should be given to high school children about politics, and how important it actually is to understand the different political parties and what they stand for.

The last thing you want is high school teachers talking about politics. They all have an agenda be it right or left. It is called indoctrination.

It would be nice if everyone voted. But forcing people to vote is in itself a form of repression, that any truly free society would not tolerate. Unfortunately Oz is not as free as many would think.

[tenthirtytwo]

That is crazy that voting is mandatory.

Of course, here in america voting is a choice, but if you don't then you "aren't a real american" and "have no right to talk about any issues." Even though voting really doesn't matter unless the election was decided by one vote...pretty slim odds.