quote:

Originally posted by CyberneticAngel The problem with forcing people to chose one of these choices is that it lends a false sense of legetimacy to the process. The government and leaders of the winning party would claim that "the people have spoken" when in fact many of the people would rather not have their days inconvenieced with the illusion of choice.

That's right. People should have the option of rejecting the whole system as well as the choice of the various political parties.

And there is a great number of people including starving students and the elderly who can't affort that $50 fine.

But I guess it's no big deal since you can always put blank votes in like I always do(Until they remove the mandatory voting law).

It's the idea though. You can't force people into the democratic process. It's very undemocratic.

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Last edited by Illusion on Feb-27-2005 at 03:00

quote:

Originally posted by St_Andrew Exactly what civil rights do you lose?

You can't have bank accounts, you can't have some jobs and I'm not sure whether you (or your children) can study in public institutions... I know you get in loads of trouble for not having a very important document we have here that basically, tells the government you're an existing person.

Oh, yeah, there's the fine too.

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quote:

Originally posted by Lira You can't have bank accounts, you can't have some jobs and I'm not sure whether you (or your children) can study in public institutions... I know you get in loads of trouble for not having a very important document we have here that basically, tells the government you're an existing person. Oh, yeah, there's the fine too.

wow that is stupid... what if you get seriously ill on election day or something? 4 years (or however long mandate periods you have) of missery?

I think so. Democracy brings not only the right to vote, but the right to not vote.

quote:

Originally posted by St_Andrew wow that is stupid... what if you get seriously ill on election day or something? 4 years (or however long mandate periods you have) of missery?

There are forms you can fill out telling the government why you didn't show up.

Just checked... you can't work in public institutions (or study, for that matter) and you can't have bank accounts, for example.

Yet we have the world's most modern voting system*... go figure





* We were the first country to use electronic ballots.

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I would consider compulsory voting undemocratic here... Forcing anyone to express a political view is unconstitutional . And what if you do not support any of the candidates? Why be forced to take sides when all sides are against you?

Also, why allow people that are ignorant of the issues vote on canditates they know little to nothing about?

Plus, if a smaller amount of people vote, my vote is that much more important

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this reminds me a recent South Park episode actually.... when they had elections for the school mascot...

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Absolutely you should have the right not to vote in a democracy. I'd 2nd the point made about false legitimacy and the concept of making a political statement by protesting. Plus look at the amount of time that Bush & Kerry had to spend trying to bring people into their camp who didn't vote in the previous election. They should not get those votes based on a requirement by law.

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The argument made for compulsory voting in Australia is that our population is too small to risk having significant amounts of people not turn up on election day, but I'm not sure that's really a valid reason. New Zealand, for instance, is a much smaller country than Australia (about a quarter of the population, if that) and yet they don't have compulsory voting and still get participation rates of 80%+ every time. Australians and New Zealanders are obviously fairly similar people, so I see no reason why a voluntary voting system would be a threat to Australian democracy.

Besides, compulsory voting is inherently undemocratic because it forces individuals to vote for people they would otherwise have no interest in voting for. There's only one party down here whose stance I even vaguely agree with (the Australian Democrats) and - due to our preferential voting system - I find myself ordering the rest of the parties from those that make me feel least nauseous to the most nauseous (the final spot usually reserved for the Liberal Party, but it went to the Family First Party this year). If the Democrats weren't contesting my seat or the senate, I probably wouldn't have any inclination to turn up at all if it wasn't the likelihood of getting fined.

The fact is, though, that elections down here (as in most other parts of the world) are usually decided by just a few percentage points. If 20% of the population, say (based on the New Zealand rates) are only voting because they have to, then - ultimately - they are having a major say in the final outcome of the election. Is that really democratic? I don't think so:

quote:

Originally posted by Arbiter I don't even think the average person who wouldn't bother voting should be allowed to vote, much less encouraged or compelled to.

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