Election SC (a tale from Australia)

[Seshat]

Voting is even easier than showing up and queuing on election day. My family goes to an electoral commission office and votes in advance.

This facility is provided to make voting feasible for people who'll be absent on election day, and for special needs cases like certain disabilities. We find it very convenient, and don't even have to show our disability/carer cards.

Oh, and as for people who say 'what about the right to choose not to vote?' - it's perfectly valid to get a form, get your name checked off, and immediately stick the empty, unmarked form in the ballot box. Or to write in Mickey Mouse or Elmer Fudd, or to write 'I don't want to vote', or in any other way not-vote.

All that's compulsory is to have the opportunity to vote. It really does work more as a check on the government than as a check on the populace.

[symposes]

I like how George Carlin put it. If you vote, and you dont like who got elected, you dont have the right to complain. That makes you a sore loser.


As for me. When all the canadits are lieing jerks, who only care about money, what good is voting either way?
If we had George W Bush running as Republican, and Jeb Bush running as Democrat, then were screwed either way.

Its a shame the independet parties dont get more recognition.

Ive heard that in some areas of the USA, if you vote for an independent party, your vote is automatically thrown away. So what good is that? I think its for the primaries, but still.
Not to mention, if you dont vote within your "declared" party, its also a thrown out vote.

And with the electronic ballots, that are so unsecure, You could vote for Canidate A, and your vote would be applied to Canidate B.

Anyway, I am going to vote in the next election. I just dont know for whom yet. I have an idea. But If these canidates are just talking through their butts, to get votes, then nothing will change.

[edible_hat]

If you vote, and you dont like who got elected, you dont have the right to complain. That makes you a sore loser.

In reality, if you don't vote you don't have the right to complain. The system gives you one chance to have your say, and by not voting you're saying "whatever you guys decide is fine by me".

[Jacen]

Anyways, we always get people who make grand speeches about how compulsory voting is unethical, undemocratic... whatever.... we don't make the rules, we don't care what your opinion is and get lost, you are holding up the line.

Australia's not a true democracy @ at the undemocratic people.

Seriously.... I hate the idea of voting and I won't vote, but there is absolutely no reason to take this out on innocent by-standers. They should take it up with the government.

[Geek King]

Ive heard that in some areas of the USA, if you vote for an independent party, your vote is automatically thrown away. So what good is that? I think its for the primaries, but still.
Not to mention, if you dont vote within your "declared" party, its also a thrown out vote.

Primaries are different, as you are voting for which candadate within that party will be run for office. Of course they would throw out votes for people outside the party, or cast by people not of that party*! If the Democrats are holding their primary, would it be okay if the Republicans flooded the poll with write-in votes for a Republican, so that the Dems end up running a Republican candidate? Of course not!

General federal elections have all the votes counted, whatever party. You can go and look up the results and see the percentage of votes that each party gets. I believe the largest current third party (based on votes in the last presidential election) in the U.S. is the Libertarian Party, followed by the Green Party.

*Okay, yes, some states DO let anyone vote in the primaries. Usually you have to vote for who is on the ticket, and you can only vote in one primary in those states.

[Rapscallion]

As some of you may be aware, in Australia - voting is compulsory (and a person can be fined for not attending to vote).

I was aware of that, but I have to ask if it's possible to pay in advance, or set up direct debit.

Rapscallion

[Andara Bledin]

Fun facts:

The United States is not a democracy, and never has been. It's a representative republic. The Pledge of Allegiance even tells us so.

The Electoral College have absolutely nothing to make them vote the same way as the populace. Kind of scary, when you consider all the implications.

In California we have what are called "open primaries." These allow you to cast your primary vote for whoever you feel like regardless of affiliation. Of course, if you vote for anyone outside of the party you've registered for, you've wasted everybody's time since it won't be counted, but at least you can do it, right? </sarcasm>

Its a shame the independet parties dont get more recognition.

It's a shame that not all of the people that whine about there not being any decent independant candidates don't get up off their lazy butts and do some work to change that. If one was really interested in change, they'd actually volunteer for somebody they thought would be good for their city/region/state, etc.

Oppressors love people who don't vote. They can count on that apathy to keep them in power.

[edit to add] Also, when it's a choice between two evils of different values, don't you think it would be a good idea to do everything in your power to make sure you ended up suffering under the lesser of the two?

^-.-^

[earl colby pottinger]

No vote

Because of religious beliefs I would not be voting, so I guess I have to pay the fine. How does that work? Is it different for different elections? And does it increase each time you don't vote?

[edible_hat]

Because of religious beliefs I would not be voting, so I guess I have to pay the fine. How does that work? Is it different for different elections? And does it increase each time you don't vote?

You don't have to pay if you've got "a valid reason" for not voting (such as arriving atht the polling booth 15 minutes after polling closes, to cite one real-world example). I'd guess your religion would be a valid reason.

Far funnier was the guy who changed his name to Informal, then told people to "Vote Informal", hoping he could be jailed for encouraging people not to vote and then become a political prisoner and get a whole lot of free publicity. He was dissappointed because the system doesn't work that way.

[wolfie]

Here's a new one on "election SC" - sucky candidate.

We recently had an election, and the candidate for one party mailed me a flyer accompanied by a generic "come and vote for me" letter - but didn't stamp it. The envelope arrived with an addition from the post office - a card demanding that I pay the postage due (double the missing postage). Guess which candidate I didn't vote for.

[Seshat]

Because of religious beliefs I would not be voting, so I guess I have to pay the fine. How does that work? Is it different for different elections? And does it increase each time you don't vote?

Does your religion forbid you from getting your name crossed off a list?

'Not-voting' is as simple as picking one of the ways of getting a voting form, leaving it blank and returning it or putting it in the ballot box.

If you really wanted to, you could simply not register yourself with the Australian Electoral Commission. Or wait for the AEC to send you a 'why didn't you vote?' form and fill it out.

Not registering, or asking for a postal ballot and sending back a blank, is probably easier.

[Geek King]

The United States is not a democracy, and never has been. It's a representative republic. The Pledge of Allegiance even tells us so.

The Electoral College have absolutely nothing to make them vote the same way as the populace. Kind of scary, when you consider all the implications.

First Point: Excellent point, too many people don't realize that the founders were terrified of true democracy. As one person put it, "Democracy is two wolves and a sheep deciding what to have for dinner." Democracy is mob rule. The US was set up as a Representative Republic so that people with unpopular viewpoints could be protected, and so that people without the proper information could not force the country into a foolish mistake. I could make some additional comments here, but they would be better in fratching, so I will move on.

Second Point: Some states do have laws about how their electors can vote. None of the laws have been challenged, though, so one has to wonder if they would be constitutional if the electors voted out of line with the state requirements.

[tangrid]

Another point to mention on the "lesser of two evils" comment, is that while there may be two greedy, worthless bastards vying for control at every election, one of them often already has his claws sunk into the system, and will be worse if he's allowed to be re-elected *cough* BUSH! *cough* than the new guy, who at least has to establish a power structure before he goes around rewriting our laws/constitutional rights [/rant]

A good quote to remember: "Politicians are like diapers. They should be changed often, and for the same reason."

[AriRashkae]

It's very nice, living in the US, choosing not to vote. After all, there hasn't really been anyone worth voting for here in the last 2 elections.

I think having Stephen "running" will at least get people interested. It'll be worth sitting back and watching the train wreck that will occur as the media wonders how seriously to take him. ('Cuz you know he'll milk it for what it's worth.)

[Andara Bledin]

Another point to mention on the "lesser of two evils" comment, is that while there may be two greedy, worthless bastards vying for control at every election, one of them often already has his claws sunk into the system, and will be worse if he's allowed to be re-elected *cough* BUSH! *cough* than the new guy, who at least has to establish a power structure before he goes around rewriting our laws/constitutional rights [/rant]

There was actually an incredibly well-written article in Rolling Stone about the last presidential election and all of the laws that were broken leading up to the results and all of the "strange coincidences" that piled up all leading to Bush being in office. You can find it HERE if you are so inclined. Supposedly 25% of the populace of Ohio (almost entirely Democratic) were prevented from voting at all.

^-.-^