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In Australia we have "mandatory" voting. But actually it is only mandatory that you turn up -- you can deliberately vote "informal" if you don't actually want
by jsankey 14y ago
In Australia we have "mandatory" voting. But actually it is only mandatory that you turn up -- you can deliberately vote "informal" if you don't actually want to cast a vote, and many people do just that (5.5% in the last federal election, although probably more like 2.5-3% of these are deliberate refusals to vote).
This is my preferred system. To me, you don't want to absolute force people to vote. But you do want to remove the bias that exists because turning out to vote is easier for some people than others (and it tends to be easier for the more privileged). Other factors help too: e.g. polling is on the weekend.
Re: apathy, the solution is not to ignore the disenfranchised, but to engage them. True representation is not about suiting those with the most free time and energy.
- daemin 14y agoAs a former manager of mine said (paraphrasing): having to vote once every several years is a small inconvenience to endure for getting to live in such a well off country.
- narcissus 14y agoDare I also say that with the 'mandatory voting', growing up I felt as though people were more engaged in politics... including children. Because they had to 'vote' (maybe "because they had to voice an opinion one way or another") people seemed to be more likely to take an interest in politics and actually learn about what was actually going on. That's the way I see it, at least: people in Australia seemed to be more knowledgeable about politics than people seem to be here in Canada at least.