In this year’s Victorian state election, next year’s NSW state election, and the federal election in 2028, plenty of voters will find the whole process a serious inconvenience.
Technically voting is voluntary. You just need to get your name marked off at a polling booth, you aren't otherwise required to submit a ballot. I have done this numerous times because I live in a seat that usually only has three options; Labor, Liberals and Greens.
What I would prefer is a better preferential voting system where you can deliberately exhaust your vote. On the rare occasions where there has been someone worth voting for, it pains me to have to give a second preference vote to someone I absolutely do not want. Marking only one box is an invalid vote.
Voting is actually compulsory but after getting your name marked off there is no way to confirm a vote was cast. So in technical terms it is only compulsory to turn up.
Re vote exhaustion, the states have optional preferential voting but even if it was adopted for federal elections, it would still be compulsory.
The AEC staff have never complained when I've asked for only the Senate ballot or, indeed, just walked out. Interesting.
While I agree that compulsion is an issue, I guess it doesn't trouble me that much. I think a far greater issue is universal suffrage. I think voting should be restricted to people who have skin in the game; landowners, people with children maybe. I think Aristotle was right about the problems with democracy.
Technically voting is voluntary. You just need to get your name marked off at a polling booth, you aren't otherwise required to submit a ballot. I have done this numerous times because I live in a seat that usually only has three options; Labor, Liberals and Greens.
What I would prefer is a better preferential voting system where you can deliberately exhaust your vote. On the rare occasions where there has been someone worth voting for, it pains me to have to give a second preference vote to someone I absolutely do not want. Marking only one box is an invalid vote.
Voting is actually compulsory but after getting your name marked off there is no way to confirm a vote was cast. So in technical terms it is only compulsory to turn up.
Re vote exhaustion, the states have optional preferential voting but even if it was adopted for federal elections, it would still be compulsory.
The issue is the compulsion.
The AEC staff have never complained when I've asked for only the Senate ballot or, indeed, just walked out. Interesting.
While I agree that compulsion is an issue, I guess it doesn't trouble me that much. I think a far greater issue is universal suffrage. I think voting should be restricted to people who have skin in the game; landowners, people with children maybe. I think Aristotle was right about the problems with democracy.
I have always thought we need a right to abstain from voting - if our politicians are allowed to do it, so should we.