5 ms·

Australian newspaper asks readers not to draw penii on ballot papers

21 points by empressplay 10y ago

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
carsongross 10y ago
HIDE AUSTRALIAN THREADS IGNORE AUSTRALIAN POSTS DO NOT REPLY TO AUSTRALIAN POSTERS http://i3.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/989/589/8db.png http://i3.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/989/589/8db...
gravypod 10y ago
Wait, what? Is it mandatory to vote in Australia?
- SixSigma 10y ago
  Yes
- Khaine 10y ago
  Kinda. The requirement is for the person to enroll, attend a polling station and have their name marked off the electoral roll as attending, receive a ballot paper and take it to an individual voting booth, mark it, fold the ballot paper and place it in the ballot box. The act does not explicitly state that a choice must be made, it only states that the ballot paper be 'marked'. According to the act how a person marks the paper is completely up to the individual.
  - gravypod 10y ago
    Well, I'd definitely draw 'inappropriate things' if I was forced to do it.
    - davidlumley 10y ago
      It's not compulsory to register to vote. edit: apologies, that's completely incorrect. While it is compulsory, you are incredibly unlikely to be fined for not registering. The AEC typically sends a reminder every few years if they have information on your residential address from another government agency. Once you are enrolled though, if you fail to vote at an election you will be asked to explain your absence and, without a satisfactory excuse, fined. It looks like the AEC now has the power to automatically enrol you too.
      - shermozle 10y ago
        Yes it is.
      - imron 10y ago
        From the Australian Electoral Commission's website: http://www.aec.gov.au/enrol/ http://www.aec.gov.au/enrol/ -- It is compulsory by law for all eligible Australian citizens to enrol and vote in federal elections, by-elections and referendums. You are eligible to enrol if you: * are an Australian citizen, or eligible British subject, * aged 18 years and over, and * have lived at your address for at least one month.
        jhfebebw 10y ago
        Interesting, I've never seen this spelling of "enrol" before. I would also draw penii if voting was compulsory.
        imron 10y ago
        Australia uses British English, and enrol is the British spelling.
        gravypod 10y ago
        Ah, the joys of localization.
  - shermozle 10y ago
    And illegal to encourage people to invalidate their ballots.
- imron 10y ago
  It's mandatory to show up at a polling station and get your name checked off. You don't need to cast a valid vote. When I was younger I used to be against this system, but when I see all the problems with poor voter turnout, disenfranchisement of voters due to screwups (accidental and intentional) with voter registration, and large scale apathy going on with other elections around the world, I've decided that what we do in Australia is actually a good thing. We also schedule elections on a Saturday to make it easier for most people to get to a polling station.
jhanschoo 10y ago
I'll be that person. The plural of "penis" is "penises" in English. An alternative plural for the English word "penis" comes from Latin, the language the word is borrowed from, and it is written "penes", since the word is, in Latin, of the 3rd declension, and hence takes the plural ending "-es". Words in Latin that end in "-i" in the plural are of the 2nd declension. Hence the status of the word "penii" as a plural for "penis" exists only as a hypercorrection https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypercorrection https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypercorrection.
- igravious 10y ago
  I venture that penii was used either for its amusement factor or to avoid saying penises which contains the word penis which is a socially embarrassing word. :) But 10/10 for being that person, thank you for being that person.
- empressplay 10y ago
  "Penis" is censored in article titles. When you submit an article with the word "penis" in it, it removes the word entirely.
davidlumley 10y ago
Drawing a penis on a ballot paper is frustrating for people who actually care about the country – you've registered to vote so perhaps you could have spent 5 minutes becoming informed, and then making a proper vote rather than drawing a penis and rendering your vote informal (i.e. not counted). That said it's infinitely better than donkey voting which is a more serious issue that plagues our elections. A donkey vote is when someone numbers their preferences from top to bottom, or bottom to top on the ballot paper. This is considered a formal vote, and your paper will affect the results. Positions on the ballot paper are randomised to try and reduce this as much as possible.

21 points by empressplay 10y ago

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

HIDE AUSTRALIAN THREADS IGNORE AUSTRALIAN POSTS DO NOT REPLY TO AUSTRALIAN POSTERS http://i3.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/989/589/8db.png http://i3.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/989/589/8db...

gravypod 10y ago

Wait, what? Is it mandatory to vote in Australia?

SixSigma 10y ago
Yes
Khaine 10y ago
Kinda. The requirement is for the person to enroll, attend a polling station and have their name marked off the electoral roll as attending, receive a ballot paper and take it to an individual voting booth, mark it, fold the ballot paper and place it in the ballot box. The act does not explicitly state that a choice must be made, it only states that the ballot paper be 'marked'. According to the act how a person marks the paper is completely up to the individual.
- gravypod 10y ago
  Well, I'd definitely draw 'inappropriate things' if I was forced to do it.
  - davidlumley 10y ago
    It's not compulsory to register to vote. edit: apologies, that's completely incorrect. While it is compulsory, you are incredibly unlikely to be fined for not registering. The AEC typically sends a reminder every few years if they have information on your residential address from another government agency. Once you are enrolled though, if you fail to vote at an election you will be asked to explain your absence and, without a satisfactory excuse, fined. It looks like the AEC now has the power to automatically enrol you too.
    - shermozle 10y ago
      Yes it is.
    - imron 10y ago
      From the Australian Electoral Commission's website: http://www.aec.gov.au/enrol/ http://www.aec.gov.au/enrol/ -- It is compulsory by law for all eligible Australian citizens to enrol and vote in federal elections, by-elections and referendums. You are eligible to enrol if you: * are an Australian citizen, or eligible British subject, * aged 18 years and over, and * have lived at your address for at least one month.
      - jhfebebw 10y ago
        Interesting, I've never seen this spelling of "enrol" before. I would also draw penii if voting was compulsory.
        imron 10y ago
        Australia uses British English, and enrol is the British spelling.
        gravypod 10y ago
        Ah, the joys of localization.
- shermozle 10y ago
  And illegal to encourage people to invalidate their ballots.
imron 10y ago
It's mandatory to show up at a polling station and get your name checked off. You don't need to cast a valid vote. When I was younger I used to be against this system, but when I see all the problems with poor voter turnout, disenfranchisement of voters due to screwups (accidental and intentional) with voter registration, and large scale apathy going on with other elections around the world, I've decided that what we do in Australia is actually a good thing. We also schedule elections on a Saturday to make it easier for most people to get to a polling station.

jhanschoo 10y ago

I'll be that person. The plural of "penis" is "penises" in English. An alternative plural for the English word "penis" comes from Latin, the language the word is borrowed from, and it is written "penes", since the word is, in Latin, of the 3rd declension, and hence takes the plural ending "-es". Words in Latin that end in "-i" in the plural are of the 2nd declension. Hence the status of the word "penii" as a plural for "penis" exists only as a hypercorrection https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypercorrection https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypercorrection.

igravious 10y ago
I venture that penii was used either for its amusement factor or to avoid saying penises which contains the word penis which is a socially embarrassing word. :) But 10/10 for being that person, thank you for being that person.
empressplay 10y ago
"Penis" is censored in article titles. When you submit an article with the word "penis" in it, it removes the word entirely.

davidlumley 10y ago

Drawing a penis on a ballot paper is frustrating for people who actually care about the country – you've registered to vote so perhaps you could have spent 5 minutes becoming informed, and then making a proper vote rather than drawing a penis and rendering your vote informal (i.e. not counted). That said it's infinitely better than donkey voting which is a more serious issue that plagues our elections. A donkey vote is when someone numbers their preferences from top to bottom, or bottom to top on the ballot paper. This is considered a formal vote, and your paper will affect the results. Positions on the ballot paper are randomised to try and reduce this as much as possible.