4 ms·

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.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
  - faklco 10y ago
    Compulsory voting is actually pretty popular over here in Australia. I can understand if it's a bit different coming from different cultures, but you don't often find people complaining about it (in person, online you get all manner of people uninvolved whinging about it)
- 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.

Yes

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.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- faklco 10y ago
  Compulsory voting is actually pretty popular over here in Australia. I can understand if it's a bit different coming from different cultures, but you don't often find people complaining about it (in person, online you get all manner of people uninvolved whinging about it)
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.