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,