In Australia, if you don't vote you get a fine. I think citizens should have to contribute to the direction of their country. But there should be a "none of the above box" and if that gets the most votes, there must be another election. And the government should pay for the campaigns, no one should be able to buy the election.
I value personal freedom ... and that includes the freedom to say "I choose not to use my vote". The person who does not wish to use their vote, if compelled to attend the polling station, can always spoil their ballot paper. So why oppress them by making them actually do it, rather than take it as read that if you compel them they will, therefore don't compel them, thereby allowing them to use their time as THEY choose, and saving the time and expense of having a teller count and record their spoiled ballot paper?
Just as a point of fact-does anyone actually keep a record of the numbers of 'spoiled' voting slips? I seem to recall at some point it was mooted that all spoiled slips should be automatically awarded to the incumbent.
Because being a citizen of a democratic nation should entail certain responsibilities, including voting. If one really doesn't want to vote they can hand in a ballot with Luke Skywalker written on it.
i am australian, and we have to vote, or we get a fine, and thats how it should be, however if we dont want to vote for any party or politician, we must still turn up to the polling station between 8am and 6pm and our name is marked off the electoral roll when we enter the ballot room, so once that is done, you can either mark your ballot papers in the proper way if you want your vote to count, or you can leave it blank or scribble on it if you dont care, and you wont get caught because our ballot paper does not have your identity on it. this is why australia is such a wonderful place to live, and not only is turning up to vote compulsory, we also have laws in place here in australia that protects us from the very people and orginizations that have helped screw over the people of other countries for so many years. i notice a lot of members in this forum bitching about how their governments have screwed them over, yet when asked if they will be voting, they say "im not voting" because it wont make any difference. what a cop out, yeah your vote might not win your candidate the election, but it sure as hell could have, and not to vote i think is appalling, you have a right to help decide who runs your country, so i say to everyone that they should use it. in australia if your slip has not been marked exactly the way it must be done according to the instructions on the ballot paper, it is invalid, and is not counted.
That's something I never knew about 'Down Under', pretty interesting. Though I think that citizens should most definitely concern themselves with important matters of their country, I'm going to have to say that I agree with BeachBall. It is a right to exercise, or refrain from exercising. Just because someone is forced to make a decision doesn't mean they will make an informed decision. I'd probably rather someone not fill out their ballot then treating it like a test they don't give a flying f*ck about & just marking anything. Just noticed that GAP said you can just put an X in every box, as long as you show up it's what counts. If people that don't want to vote, don't truly vote, then what is the point? That isn't to say I don't personally think people should vote, I encourage it wholeheartedly.
yes our government just encourages people to at least get their asses to a polling station so it looks like they care, and i know many people who said they didnt care about voting but once they got there changed their mind and did vote correctly. to me, if i didnt care, i would rather not waste my time turning up and just pay the fine.
How much is the fine? How much is spent by candidates on the election? Is there a "none of the above" box to check? If that box gets the most votes, do they have a re-do? Who pays for the election?
the whole electoral system here in austraia is so totally different that the american system. we have 3 main parties, and several minor parties who usually fail to win any seats, but 2 of those 3 main parties act together as a coalition, so if a member of one of those parties doesnt get enough votes to get into parliament their votes go to the member who is from the other coalition party, and they are called preference votes. australia is divided into hundreds of electorates, and each party can have between 1 and 5 candidates who are pre-selected by their party who can contest for a seat in parliament to act on behalf of the people from that electorate. so, in my own case, when i go into my polling station to vote, i get a sheet with the names of each candidate from my own electorate on it, and if there are 26 candidates from all parties, i must place a number from 1 to 26 beside each candidate, with 1 being my first preference and 26 being my last preference. after counting is done, and preference votes are distributed, and postal votes are counted, whatever party wins the most seats in parliament is the winner of the election, and the leader of that party becomes our prime minister, so we can only vote for the candidates in our own electorate who we want to to act on our behalf in parliament. we dont actually get a piece of paper with the names of the actual candidates running for prime minister on it. the odd thing here is that i might be a labor supporter and i want labor to run our government, but i might not necessarily like the leader of the labor party, but unfortunately we just always hope that each party nominates the best candidate as their leader because that person could end up being our prime minister. last point, if the leader of the winning party does not win his seat in his own electorate (the liberal candidate might beat him) then that person cannot be the prime minister because they were not voted a seat, so that party then needs to elect another member from its party to be the prime minister, and that member must have won his own electorate seat to be eligible. EDIT: i should point out that VOTING in australia IS NOT COMPULSARY, however turning up to the polling station and having your name struck off the electoral roll as required by law is compulsory, what you do after your name is struck off the register is up to you, you can go thru with the motion of voting, or you can turn around and walk back out without doing anything.
That is sounds similar to our electoral college, we don't get to pick our POTUS, our electoral college does. It over rules the popular vote. It was created, because the rulers think they are smarter than the voters.
It is my understanding that in the days of the USSR it was so boring with only one person to vote for that they gave out free vodka for voting . desert rat p.s. this link if from a lady that gets to ride her motor cycle around the chernobyl nuc. plant . http://www.kiddofspeed.com/chapter9.html
