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submitted 9 months ago by Lafari@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world
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[-] TheIvoryTower@lemmy.world 115 points 9 months ago

All the people saying mandatory voting is bad are misinformed. It is essential for democracy, and should be applied everywhere.

Australia has mandatory voter turnout, but you do not need to submit a vote. You just need to show up on polling day.

Everyone has political interests and needs to be politically represented, but some people are too tired after work to take themselves to the polling centre. Others are incarcerated. If anything, those people are more in need of political representatives.

American conservatives spend billions trying to prevent poor overworked people from reaching polling places or exercising their right to vote. Mandatory voting prevents that.

Make no mistake, Australian democracy is healtheir than whatever clusterfuck in going on in the US.

[-] JusticeForPorygon@lemmy.world 55 points 9 months ago

Not only that, but Australia's actual ballot is leagues better, too. Ranked ballots are a great way to weaken (unfortunately not eliminate) the two party system, which is unfortunately also the reason the United States will never see anything like it. (At least not in the foreseeable future.)

[-] naevaTheRat@lemmy.dbzer0.com 12 points 9 months ago

Yeah we do have single member seats in the lower house though which is a completely broken system.

Most of Europe recognises that, our frienemies across the ditch recognise that.

Consensus seeking and coalitions are much more representative forms of government than single member winner takes all seats.

[-] Paradoxvoid@aussie.zone 2 points 9 months ago

Yep, this is why the Senate is much more representative, and why the big parties who control the House of Representatives hate it so much.

[-] Balthazar@lemmy.world 24 points 9 months ago

Whether mandatory voting is bad or not, certainly it's way better than the American situation, where one particular party's strategy to win elections is to discourage and actively prevent people from voting. In Australia, every political party seeks to win by collecting votes.

[-] intensely_human@lemm.ee 7 points 9 months ago

Yeah I hate the fact that one party’s strategy is actively invalidating votes for one of the candidates.

[-] tourist@lemmy.world 10 points 9 months ago

I don't pay too much attention to Australian politics, but whenever I see headlines it's always something like "MP literally destroying the barrier reef with his own bare hands" or "Corruption whistleblower sentenced to one thousand years in jail"

[-] vantlem@lemmy.world 18 points 9 months ago

The important thing to note is: Australia has a genuinely solid chance of removing the right-wing nutjobs / spineless centrist two-party system BECAUSE of mandatory voting. Young people in USA have appalling voter turn out. But young people in Australia are seriously turning the tides. See the results by age group for the 2019 election. The boomers are still voting in right-wing nutjobs (Liberal party), most groups have strong centrist representation (Labor), and Gen Z are bringing in a third, non-major, left-aligned party (Greens). It brings so much hope for younger generations and the fact that voting doesn't feel futile.

[-] DarkDarkHouse@lemmy.sdf.org 1 points 9 months ago

This chart gives me hope.

[-] EurekaStockade@lemmy.world 10 points 9 months ago

Things like "MP approves funding for new hospital" don't make headlines. Even moreso for any world headlines to rise above the din of American politics it usually has to be something pretty outrageous.

[-] AsslessChaps@lemmynsfw.com 4 points 9 months ago

It’s because you do hear about it. We recently had an mp forced to retire because they could control policy over something his mother has shares in.

[-] Paradoxvoid@aussie.zone 3 points 9 months ago

Australia has mandatory voter turnout, but you do not need to submit a vote. You just need to show up on polling day.

So just to clear up a technical misconception here - the wording in the Electoral Act is quite clear. All enrolled electors are legally required to vote. It's only a consequence of the secret ballot that makes this provision unenforceable, so someone can turn up and get their name marked off while not submitting a vote without facing any consequences, but it is technically an illegal act.

If the AEC were to come up with some way to determine that you didn't vote without betraying that secret ballot, they would be within their rights to issue a you a fine.

[-] unionagainstdhmo@aussie.zone 1 points 9 months ago

When you go to vote they check you off on either a physical or digital list - so they can work out who didn't vote. What they can't work out is whether you submitted a legit ballot

[-] Paradoxvoid@aussie.zone 3 points 9 months ago

I'm using 'didn't vote' to include submitting an empty ballot, which for the purposes of the Electoral Act, is the same thing.

this post was submitted on 10 Jan 2024
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