Citizen's Duty Complete
In Australia, we are one of the few countries in the world where voting is compulsory... or you get a small fine. Well, voting isn't really compulsory (more on that later..), with the paper ballots you only have to show up and collect your ballot papers... after which, you can do whatever the hell you want with them. Eat them, tear them up, vote, or cast dead vote (preferably by drawing giraffes and unicorns on it...). So, not enforced voting... but just once every now and then, show up and collect the papers and then do whatever you want.
I figure that is probably the least that a citizen of a country can do... just show up once every couple of years for a state or federal election and just collect the papers. Anyway, since I have returned, I have generally cast dead votes... or written nothing. I am a fan of "compulsory voting" as that means that parties need to appeal to a broad majority of the centre (sadly, also assuming that the electorate is well informed...)... rather than the "get out the vote" where you are appealing to your respective bases and fringes away from the centre (cough cough... United States...).
That said, I'm a bit disillusioned by the way that Australia is following the lead of the United States in many things... politics being one of them, and that has made the two party system quite unenviable. I wish that our compulsory voting was paired with the European model of proportional representation instead of the preferential system that we have. I used to think that the preferential system weeded out fringe elements and replaced it with near centre stability, allowing for the use of protest votes without wasting your vote... but in the end, the hyper-stability of the two main parties means that they are complacent and corrupt.
... but gripes aside, Australia does make it easy to vote. Weekends elections, sausage and BBQs and fundraisers for local schools, early voting, postal voting... all super easy!
And this time, I tried out the early voting... as I'm crazily busy this month, and I don't have the time to stand in line on election day. So, off to a local community centre to cast my ballot in a pretty much empty hall! Honestly, there were more worker volunteers than there were voters!
So, no photos from inside... and the best thing about early voting is the complete lack of people trying to hand you ballots! In fact, not being harassed by people with how to vote cards is the BEST thing ever... I will always vote early from now on!
But this was a different one... instead of a paper ballot, I just got a QR ticket which was scanned to do an electronic vote. First time doing this... and it didn't seem to have an option to cast a null vote. Possibly, afterwards, I thought that it was probably fine to scan and then hand in the QR code afterwards without voting? That was what was done in the old fashioned paper way...
Anyway, that was my major gripe with this experience, the unclear manner in which you would cast a non-vote. So, in the end, I cast my minimum 5 preferences for three independent candidates, one local representation candidate, and one libertarian candidate. All unlikely to get through, but that was the easiest way to cast a null vote.
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Politicians are demanding far too much, doing little in return, go with whichever you think will be even keeled.
Done and dusted....
I like to generally vote independent... or just not the majors... or cast a null vote.
Last round I did listen to what was on offer, voted more independent parties, not one got all votes either.
My wife and I just turned in our early voting absentee ballots last night. That is interesting that you get a fine if you don't pick your stuff up. I'm sure something like that would cause a lot of controversy over here. Pretty much everything does these days! All we can do at this point in the US is sit back, wait for the results, and hope the country doesn't devolve into civil war.
Sounds a touch dire over there with the partisanship... although, it probably sounds worse on the news/web than it actually is?
Yeah, when I have talked about this with Americans... they don't like the idea of being "forced" to vote... but I say that you are only "forced" to collect the ballot papers, after that do whatever you want... plus, we make it easy to vote... long hours on the weekends, schools and community groups run big sausage sizzles and fetes to make it all a bit festive!
I think a lot more people should vote who don't, so I am not opposed to the way they do it there. It's pretty bad. You can usually get along with most people, but some have really went down the rabbit hole. It's not really even about the issues anymore. That's cool that they make it like a big party!
I think that it seems to have turned into some sort of de-facto team sports thing... where your own team is the one to back, regardless of anything else. Fine for sports... a bit less fine for governance!
I can agree with you there. The tribalism is off the charts and I don't believe it is was the founding fathers intended when they embarked on this great experiment.
Hmm, that's interesting, so now that the voting is digital do you still have to go pick up a paper ballot somewhere? When I vote, which is not often due the fact that it's pretty meaningless over here, I write in a vote for my cat or "George Carlin's Ashes". Up until recently I thought that all write in votes were recorded and publish but I recently learned that not all write in votes are counted! In some states, not all, but some, a write in candidate still needs to file paperwork for their votes to be counted 🤦♀
Huh... so, your cat never filled out the paperwork and could have actually won?
Yeah, you still need to pick up the QR "ballot" and get your name marked off the electoral roll. Plus, I need to get my democracy sausage as well!
By the time someone reaches the top of the pile--that is, the party structure endorses them--they are already compromised. They have to winnow out their principles in order to get past the hierarchy. At that point, voters are left with a choice between two candidates who have been stripped of whatever principled impetus drove them to politics in the first place. Hence, voter indifference.
It is true that whoever wins sometimes makes a difference, but when we vote we compromise too. Can't get what we wish for so get as close as possible.
A dispiriting election season this year in the U.S.--even more than usual.
Yeah, the United States seems to be (looking in from the outside) faced with a choice of two candidates for President that I wouldn't want. Kick in the head or punch in the guts... tough choice.