| EricHiggin said: I'll have to look into this a bit more, because at first glance it does sound better than what we have in Canada. I'm not ok with being forced to vote though. I don't care if I can write anything in and void the ballot. Forcing me to waste my time if I've concluded it's a waste of time, not only sounds anti democratic but will just piss people off. |
There is actually a small loophole in the law... It's only compulsory to vote if you register to vote.
I didn't start voting until I hit the young age of 30... However having matured somewhat (Hint: Big ask for a firefighter), decided to add my opinion and morals to help guide the country in a direction I believe it should go in.
In saying that, once I registered to vote, I have to vote every election.
Compulsory voting does have some advantages, there isn't wasted resources trying to "encourage" people to have a democracy sausage and vote, more effort can be placed on the issues at hand.
And because it's compulsory, small excuses like "work" isn't really applicable, so most people get some time off work.
There is also the advantage of having one less excuse of why a political party won/lost, so a lot less whinging and moaning.
| EricHiggin said: As to "validity", I agree, but this then also opens the door to things like a minimum age change. Who really believes an 18 year old is wise enough and well informed enough to vote? They aren't now, and we weren't back then either. "Old enough to fight, old enough to vote", only really makes sense if you're forced to fight. If you've chosen to fight, that's simply your choice. There was good reason why min voting ages were higher in the past, or not even based on age, and while people may argue that, today, we're more educated and have more info at our fingertips, that doesn't necessarily make you more intelligent overall or less prone to being fooled in a world of free, instant social media, where reasonable consequences for those trying to fool you don't really exist. I'm not for being forced to vote either, but I don't necessarily see any of these rules as black and white, right or wrong. As long as the majority decides and agrees on them then that's acceptable since it would be their choice, assuming they're free to leave as well if they disagree. |
By legal definition here... An Adult is someone who is 18 years of age or older, that means.. They can drink and go to clubs and pubs, drive cars and trucks, join the army, fire or ambulance service and deal with deceased casualties... I think if we are going to legally allow them to do all those things, they should be legally allowed to vote to help guide theirs and the nations future.
That said, not all 18 year old are unwise, just like how many 50 year olds are factually stupid and lack wisdom. - It's a case by case basis.
The only real appropriate way to "weed out" poor voting is to have an I.Q test and bring in strict laws to curb misinformation during political campaigns.
I.E. There SHOULD be legal repercussions when a candidate says something stupid like "Stopping a war in 24 hours" when everyone knows it's logistically impossible.
| SanAndreasX said: Three states in the U.S. use preferential/ranked choice voting in varying degrees, namely, Maine, Alaska, and Hawaii. Republicans, naturally, reject anything other than winner-takes-all, first past the posts. American conservatives were raging that the leader of the right-wing party that got less than percent of the vote in Austria didn't become their chancellor. As far as they were concerned, FPO's 28.85% of the vote percent of the vote entitled Herbert Kickl to the chancellorship as the "will of the majority" (plurality doesn't exist for these people. Even Trump's tally of the 2024 vote was a plurality rather than an actual majority.) |
It's worked extremely well for us, obviously sometimes there is some "wheeling and dealing" occurring after an election to shore up majority support to govern, but that's where the advantages of preferences start to come into play as independents and minor parties can hold the balance of power.
| curl-6 said: Just put my vote in; there wasn't even a line, I was in and out in 2 minutes. |
I have been a Labor supporter since the 2019/2020 bushfire season when our leader (Scott Morrison) pissed off to Hawaii while our country burned... Then following the backlash by the entire nation, came back and tried to force his way onto the fire ground to meet us and shake our hands.
Pauline Hanson lost my support when she visited my city while it was flooding and refused to leave the hotel.
Can't respect a political party that can't respect us.
I did support Liberals during the John Howard years, lots of economic growth and lots of downpaying of debt, was a good time, despite some policies being regressive such as LGBTQI rights.
Thankfully the seat of Barker is a Labor safe seat and we have seen some amazing progress in the region.
www.youtube.com/@Pemalite
