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March 29, 2024, 12:22:33 am

Author Topic: Opinions on compulsory voting  (Read 3809 times)  Share 

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keltingmeith

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Opinions on compulsory voting
« on: August 13, 2020, 05:23:02 pm »
+7
Such a random question when we're not even near an election, but the more I age, the more I start to be interested in politics, and I just realised today how my opinion on this very topic has changed drastically.

Backstory: when I was younger (say, 14-15?), I was of the opinion we should not have compulsory voting. I thought that there were too many people who weren't informed voters making decisions, and figured I'd be one of them. I didn't like politics, I wasn't interested in it, and I felt that most of the decisions made had nothing to do with me and were just a bother. So, I guess partly I was against it, because I didn't want to have to waste my Sunday once every year or two?

Then, I turned 18, and the year I turned 18 was a federal election. I did vote compass, but quickly ignored the scores. I then voted Labor to spite my nan, because she said something about "this house didn't raise no Labor voters", and tbh I did and still do hate her guts and have many choice names I don't think I'm allowed to say on here. And here's where it started - I was forced to take a stake in this, so even though I didn't care before, suddenly I wanted to know... Did I vote for the winning team? Well, I don't remember the verdict (anyone know what happened in 2013?), but I remember being disheartened when my electorate voted in a Liberal seat.

Anyway, wait a year or two, and it's a state election. I honestly don't remember it. At all. But once again, I was forced to have a stake, and I suddenly became curious as to how to results went... And I watched them get counted. I didn't understand a lot about what was happening, but I was playing video games with my phone open to the results that I checked every 15 minutes or so.

Then, it was 2016. New federal election. All of a sudden, I cared about things. I remember watching decisions happen all over Australia, and I felt a little responsible - maybe I was the reason bad things happened? Maybe, my vote I made could've been put better elsewhere? I didn't know what to do, so I went on vote compass, and did the poll. I was split, but it came back just in favour of Labor. So this time, I felt confident in my decision - and put them first, knowing that at this point, it didn't matter where my other preferences went. Hell, I think I put Liberal third, because the devil you know is better than the devil you don't. And I watched the results come in while playing video games.

Then, 2017 happened, and the same-sex marriage plebiscite happened. This is something I cared about - something I WANTED to have an opinion on. I cast my vote. All of a sudden, I had gone from someone who would never vote if he could avoid it, to putting my ballot in on the first possible day to make sure it got received. And the biggest kicker? The fact that I was forced to vote in earlier elections made me realise the impact that I had, it made me all of a sudden conscious of what the government was doing around me - and if I had never been forced to vote, I honestly probably wouldn't have even known that the plebiscite happened.

Finally, we hit 2019. There must've been a state election I missed, but no clue where it was. I think I went to an early voting booth, and so was unaware of when the actual counting was and got lost. But 2019 was different - all of sudden, I cared about politics. I was watching the pre-polling. I was watching the debates. I was scoffing at the lengths the liberal MP in my area went to (she was the one who went on Chinese-speaking groups and suggested that Chinese-Australian votes wouldn't count unless they put Liberal first), and all of a sudden I was in a moral dilemma - who the hell do I vote for? I vote compass'd again, and this time, I was majority Greens. And looking over their statements and policies, I thought - yeah, this is the team I want to be in. And if they don't, Labor would be great, too. So I made a bold decision, and I chose to vote below the line - and I funnelled all of my votes into representatives of the Labor and Greens parties.

And having done all of that, I have only compulsory voting to think. And now, I'm glad we have it. I remember looking at the state America is in and being disgusted at the thought that Clinton could have more than half the votes (the "popular vote", as it's called), and yet somehow not be elected in (although, I wouldn't be surprised if the same thing could theoretically happen in Australia - as much as I now care about politics, I am unaware of how the electorates are spread out), at the thought there were people who were complaining about the result, but when asked would confirm they hadn't voted.

And I feel that compulsory voting is good, because that populace who aren't informed are much smaller than I honestly thought they were - and more importantly, that by forcing people to vote, you force them to take an interest. And even if I don't agree with the result, I feel happy knowing that at least the interests of the country at large are being selected for - it's just that my interests are in the relative-minority, but that's okay.



So now, I'm curious - consulting a community that feels half-can't vote half-are forced to vote, what is everyone's opinions on compulsory voting - and how do you feel your ability to vote (that is, being under or over 18 years old) has affected that opinion? Maybe your stories aren't as long as mine,

PhoenixxFire

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Re: Opinions on compulsory voting
« Reply #1 on: August 13, 2020, 05:58:44 pm »
+12
I definitely support compulsory voting and always have. I think for me I've kinda just always been aware of social issues and always known that many people oppose me having the same rights as others. I watched a bill to allow trans people the right to self identify on their birth certificates fail in 2016, I watched MPs decide it was a good idea to have a public vote on whether gay people should be allowed to marry, I saw the hate filled ads and posters plastered along my walk to school with all their disgusting claims about equal rights harming children and slippery slopes to hell.

I badgered my family in 2014 and 2016 to vote how I wanted them to vote, I convinced my mum to go to a talk the local candidate was giving (they did not appreciate it but I had a running joke with my sister where I'd send her a photo of anything green I came across haha). I went out and door knocked for the marriage equality plebiscite reminding people to hand in their votes and I saw just how important it was that people voted - we knew we had the popular support but if people didn't vote then it wouldn't matter.

I signed up to vote before I even turned 18 on the slim hope that they wouldn't fix the wording of the plebiscite and would have to allow 16 and 17 year olds to vote.

I've always seen how important it is to be able to have a say and get your views across in order to change things. After being a bit older some of the things I've seen in the USA really show how optional voting doesn't work - voting on a weekday when people are at work, less voting stations in particular areas meaning that people have to queue hours to vote, when they're already missing work to do it. Optional voting makes it easier to prevent certain groups from voting - and of course that's going to disproportionately affect people who are already marginalised.
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Sine

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Re: Opinions on compulsory voting
« Reply #2 on: August 13, 2020, 07:19:04 pm »
+2
Probably more in favour of compulsory voting. I don't like the idea of the ability of someone getting elected on 20-25% of the possible voters.

turinturambar

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Re: Opinions on compulsory voting
« Reply #3 on: August 14, 2020, 12:31:32 am »
+1
When I first turned 18, I had a valid reason for not voting.  That meant mandatory voting was annoying, just because it meant I had to fill in the paperwork to prove I had a valid reason.  As a result, I also didn't pay a lot of attention to politics.

Trivia: I first voted at Gringotts Australia House, The Strand in 2016.  I remember that positively because I was in London and I was feeling free.  I walked from Australia House to the Globe for a production of Macbeth, and I gotta say our transfer of power is much more peaceful :)



Anyway, wait a year or two, and it's a state election. I honestly don't remember it. At all. But once again, I was forced to have a stake, and I suddenly became curious as to how to results went... And I watched them get counted. I didn't understand a lot about what was happening, but I was playing video games with my phone open to the results that I checked every 15 minutes or so.

I now associate the counting of votes with a feeling of dread as what what we were told was the odds-on favourite slowly becomes clear that it's not working out.  Perhaps because the votes I most remember watching are Brexit referendum (yes, I was in London then), Trump vs Clinton, and last year's federal election (anyone here remember that wonderful "climate change election" tag?).

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And having done all of that, I have only compulsory voting to think. And now, I'm glad we have it. I remember looking at the state America is in and being disgusted at the thought that Clinton could have more than half the votes (the "popular vote", as it's called), and yet somehow not be elected in (although, I wouldn't be surprised if the same thing could theoretically happen in Australia - as much as I now care about politics, I am unaware of how the electorates are spread out), at the thought there were people who were complaining about the result, but when asked would confirm they hadn't voted.

As it happens, in the 1998 election Labor under Kim Beazley lost to the Coalition under John Howard despite getting nearly 51% of two party preferred votes.  The seat numbers aren't even close - looks like the Coalition got 80 seats to Labor's 67.  Seems like it's not the only time, either - Wikipedia seems to show it's 6 times in the 24 elections between 1940 and 1998, which is a lot more than I'd expect...

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And I feel that compulsory voting is good, because that populace who aren't informed are much smaller than I honestly thought they were - and more importantly, that by forcing people to vote, you force them to take an interest. And even if I don't agree with the result, I feel happy knowing that at least the interests of the country at large are being selected for - it's just that my interests are in the relative-minority, but that's okay.

I have always found it a bit odd that the votes of 10 people who don't care and don't want to vote count for more than my (hopefully) somewhat informed vote.  Though maybe you're right that it makes more people take an interest - I don't know.

It does concern me the amount of negative campaigning that I've seen from both major parties (I'm not inner city, and don't particularly remember seeing Greens advertising - though I think I got some United Australia Party advertising last year :/ ).  I feel it means for many they accept a scary sounding story, preferably lining up with their existing partisan bias ("retiree tax" sticks in my mind from 2019), even though that story is at best questionable.  And look, I'm sure the same happens without mandatory voting, but forcing people to vote when they aren't forced to come to any understanding of the realities behind the slogans (from any party) seems a bit more odd than letting people choose to vote, no matter what their level of understanding of the issues is.

I think it does change the nature of a campaign - obviously each time there will be some new voters and some deceased voters, but a party wishing to take power does have to swing voters who last election voted for a different party.  Whereas with optional voting I gather it's more important to convince people who already support you to vote than to try and change the minds of people who don't support you.  Maybe that makes the election process more partisan and polarising?  I'm not sure.

I definitely support compulsory voting and always have. I think for me I've kinda just always been aware of social issues and always known that many people oppose me having the same rights as others. I watched a bill to allow trans people the right to self identify on their birth certificates fail in 2016, I watched MPs decide it was a good idea to have a public vote on whether gay people should be allowed to marry, I saw the hate filled ads and posters plastered along my walk to school with all their disgusting claims about equal rights harming children and slippery slopes to hell.

I'm not sure what this has to do with mandatory voting?  That will force the people who think it's a good idea to vote as well as the people who think it's a bad idea, but the whole concept is wrong.  If it's a matter of rights (and I'd agree with you it is), the mere concept of putting it up for a vote is wrong, because it just shouldn't matter if, say, 50.1% or 60% or 80% of the population disapprove.

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I've always seen how important it is to be able to have a say and get your views across in order to change things. After being a bit older some of the things I've seen in the USA really show how optional voting doesn't work - voting on a weekday when people are at work, less voting stations in particular areas meaning that people have to queue hours to vote, when they're already missing work to do it. Optional voting makes it easier to prevent certain groups from voting - and of course that's going to disproportionately affect people who are already marginalised.

The US is an easy call out, because it has a lot of problems baked into the system.  But I don't think it's principally down to optional voting as much as straight up, deliberate voter suppression, with a healthy side dose of state rights for good measure.  If we went to optional voting I very much doubt our voting would become like the US in the short-term - and I doubt it would be able to in the long term either.

I leave you with a quote I saw the other day, uttered completely unironically: “The worst day in America beats the best day in any other country”.
“Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.” – Neil Gaiman