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> 3. Make appearing at a polling place mandatory. This one is controversial. This is the system Australia has. You don't have to vote. You simply need to show u

> 3. Make appearing at a polling place mandatory. This one is controversial. This is the system Australia has. You don't have to vote. You simply need to show up and get your name crossed off. That's it; and How is this enforced?

detaro 5y ago
You get fined (20-180 AUD apparently) if you don't appear.
cletus 5y ago
Well the first is that it's possible to not be registered to vote. If that's the case, there's nothing you need to do. My sense was that most people are registered to vote and this seems to be backed up by AEC (Australian Electoral Commission) statistics [1]. So if you are registered, then wherever you live, you'll bein a giant book. When you show up to vote, you just tell them your name and they draw a line through it. If you're out of your district, you can still vote. You just need to fill out an absentee voting form wherever you go to. This information is collated after the fact for failures to appear or duplicates. I believe if you fail to appear you just get mailed a fine that starts at $20 [2]. I'm not sure this enforcement is 100%. At least, I've never known anyone who has gotten one. Then again, not voting seems to be relatively uncommon. Voting, in my experience, is straightforward and quick. It's never taken me more than 5-10 minutes. The polling places are typically schools (which you can use, because it's on a Saturday) and I've never had to wait for more than a few minutes. But this is why mandatory appearance is so important: the AEC is then responsible for making sure there is sufficient capacity. They can't play games with making it harder or easier in particular districts. Mandatory appearance frees the AEC from any partisan traps of that particular type. [1]: https://www.aec.gov.au/enrolling_to_vote/enrolment_stats/ https://www.aec.gov.au/enrolling_to_vote/enrolment_stats/ [2]: https://www.elections.wa.gov.au/vote/failure-vote#:~:text=The%20penalty%20for%20first%20time,that%20will%20end%20the%20matter https://www.elections.wa.gov.au/vote/failure-vote#:~:text=Th....

detaro 5y ago

You get fined (20-180 AUD apparently) if you don't appear.

cletus 5y ago

Well the first is that it's possible to not be registered to vote. If that's the case, there's nothing you need to do. My sense was that most people are registered to vote and this seems to be backed up by AEC (Australian Electoral Commission) statistics [1]. So if you are registered, then wherever you live, you'll bein a giant book. When you show up to vote, you just tell them your name and they draw a line through it. If you're out of your district, you can still vote. You just need to fill out an absentee voting form wherever you go to. This information is collated after the fact for failures to appear or duplicates. I believe if you fail to appear you just get mailed a fine that starts at $20 [2]. I'm not sure this enforcement is 100%. At least, I've never known anyone who has gotten one. Then again, not voting seems to be relatively uncommon. Voting, in my experience, is straightforward and quick. It's never taken me more than 5-10 minutes. The polling places are typically schools (which you can use, because it's on a Saturday) and I've never had to wait for more than a few minutes. But this is why mandatory appearance is so important: the AEC is then responsible for making sure there is sufficient capacity. They can't play games with making it harder or easier in particular districts. Mandatory appearance frees the AEC from any partisan traps of that particular type. [1]: https://www.aec.gov.au/enrolling_to_vote/enrolment_stats/ https://www.aec.gov.au/enrolling_to_vote/enrolment_stats/ [2]: https://www.elections.wa.gov.au/vote/failure-vote#:~:text=The%20penalty%20for%20first%20time,that%20will%20end%20the%20matter https://www.elections.wa.gov.au/vote/failure-vote#:~:text=Th....