Australian Election

[kerravonsen]

So... those of you who aren't Australians and don't follow me on Twitter, may not even be aware that we're having Federal elections today, or may be confused about strange Australian politics even if you do know

Comments

[reapermum]

Thanks for that explaination. I knew you had an election running and that it wasn't as simple as our First past the post.

I had never heard about the above and below the line before, I can see the drawbacks and possible advantages from your explanation.

I think we should have compulsary voting as well. Not because people fought and died to get you the right to vote, but how can you complain if the people you don't like got in and you couldn't be bothered to vote the other way.

[kerravonsen]

Not because people fought and died to get you the right to vote, but how can you complain if the people you don't like got in and you couldn't be bothered to vote the other way.

Exactly!

Apathy is the enemy of democracy.

[dreamflower02]

I wish we had compulsory voting! Too many people in this country just don't care--or they like to complain that there's no point in voting.

(And to be honest in this state I often feel that way, but I vote anyway--when I know there's voting going on. They do not publicize local elections here very well. There have been a couple of times recently that I did not EVEN KNOW voting was going on until it was too late! Can you believe that? I'd never lived anywhere before where the politicking was more or less a secret!)

[kerravonsen]

I think politicians like to encourage apathy in citizens; it makes them easier to control. 8-(

[hawkeye7]

I was going to vote below the line, but when I saw the 1 metre wide Senate ballot paper, I decided to just put a 1 at the top.

Americans might find it odd that the right wing party is blue and the left is red, although that is kind of normal outside the US.

Also: the Labor Party spells its name without a "u" in Australia.

[izhilzha]

This is fascinating! The USA could definitely use changes that would allow smaller parties to have some say.

I'm a little iffy on compulsory voting, if only because I imagine that would result in a lot of very uninformed people making their nonexistent opinions known. But perhaps knowing that you MUST vote would encourage people to better inform themselves.

[kerravonsen]

if only because I imagine that would result in a lot of very uninformed people making their nonexistent opinions known.
I'm kind of appalled by that statement.

But perhaps knowing that you MUST vote would encourage people to better inform themselves.
That is my theory, yes. Not that everyone will better inform themselves - that would be too much to expect - but that more people would better inform themselves than they would have otherwise.

Another good thing is that the turnout for voting is not at the mercy of the weather, either.

Apathy is the enemy of democracy.

[izhilzha]

Appalled why, exactly? I inform myself at least enough to know what I'm voting on; I'm not a fan of people just marking things without a clue as to what they are or what their passage or obstruction might mean.

[kerravonsen]

Appalled by the implication that only well-informed people deserve to have the right to vote, and that stupid/ignorant people should be disenfranchised. Though that probably isn't what you meant.