Australia is voting today!

@RawBill1 (8531)
Gold Coast, Australia
August 20, 2010 4:59pm CST
Today it is voting day in Australia as we vote for a new party to lead the country. It is a task that most Australians do not like doing. Everyone seems to complain about having to go down to their local hall or school to vote. I enjoy voting as I like to get my opinion heard. Voting is compulsory in Australia. If you are on the electoral role and do not vote then they will fine you. Is voting compulsory in your country? If you are not required by law to vote, do you make an effort to do it? I sometimes feel that most here would not if it was not compulsory!
4 people like this
20 responses
@Qaeyious (2357)
• United States
20 Aug 10
Yes, that is a new one on me as well, compulsory voting, like income tax! That took me a many minutes to contemplate. Are you given an option of "None of the above" if there is no one you want to vote for? I heard many don't vote here in the united states, and I am tempted to say I understand for the federal offices but for the more local offices I think it is more important to be counted. It is like the people here not paying when they use the light rail, stealing from the service and causing everyone else's costs to go up because of their irresponsibility.
2 people like this
@RawBill1 (8531)
• Gold Coast, Australia
21 Aug 10
When you vote, you have your name checked off a list at a desk and then you get given ballot papers with candidates names with boxes next to them. You put your votes in order of preference in each candidates box in a private booth and then fold it up and but the paper into a large barrel with a letterbox type of lid on top. If you do not want to vote for anyone, you can leave it blank or write in Mickey Mouse if you like. It is perfectly legal to do so, your paper will just not be counted as a vote. There is no "None of the above" box though.
• Australia
21 Aug 10
I have dome my bit for Australia today...I just hope I voted for the right person/people coz as far as I can see, we are just voting for someone else to ruin our country...I got it over & done with early because I hate voting...I sometimes wish I had never enrolled to vote.
• Australia
21 Aug 10
this is true too...I don't want a hung parliament either...I too think it will be good to have more greens in the senate but at the same time, I don't like what labour & the greens are doing to us here on the Sunshine Coast - especially us who live right on the Pumicestone Passage...lanour have taken away the taps so you can't hose your boat or clean & gut your fish on the tables THEY provide & they are trying to make it illegal for us to fish there...now I live 2 streets away from the passage & if they make that change, I won't be able to walk down to the beach to take my daughter fishing which she loves to do!
1 person likes this
• Adelaide, Australia
21 Aug 10
true, but I think the point is How Much they'll ruin our country :-) We in SA can still recall the results of the last State Election. The majority voted for a Coalition government, but we ended up with Labor. Why? They won more seats. Probably more on preference votes than anything. That's what I hope doesn't happen with this Federal Election. That & a hung Parliament. If we get more or less even numbers, no legislation may get through. Hopefully the Greens will get a few more seats in the senate to even things out. The Greens had a massive following in Tasmania's last election.
1 person likes this
• Adelaide, Australia
21 Aug 10
They reckon government will be decided in QLD & an electorate in Sydney. How do you reckon it'll go? I think Labor will get in, but by the narrowest of margins & possibly with a lot of help from preference votes. I'd really like to see more independents get in. Hope Bob Cattley makes it. WA has always been good with voting for independents; hope they can pull it off again. We'll be watching it tonight; gathered 'round the TV like watching a game of footy. Have to sign off until Monday. All the Best, everyone :-)
1 person likes this
@Hatley (163776)
• Garden Grove, California
20 Aug 10
hi Rawbill I think that is fantastic and wish here in the US we did have it compulsory as then we would get a true vote of all our p;eople not just the few of us who think we should vote and make our voices heard. tthe majority of Americans are lazy and do not vote but will complain bitterly when people are elected whom they do not feel should be in office.I will say then you should have voted instead of just complaining now about it.
1 person likes this
@RawBill1 (8531)
• Gold Coast, Australia
21 Aug 10
Hi Hatley, you are right there. It is not a fair representation of the country as a whole if there is no compulsory voting as I guess you would get the extremists having more of a say percentage wise than if the whole country had to vote. I agree. If you do not vote, then do not complain about the government!
• Adelaide, Australia
21 Aug 10
I think the UK also have compulsory voting, but a different interpretation of it. Is it still "vote early, & vote often" in the USA? Every country has it's flaws in electing government or at least professional criticisms of such, except maybe Switzerland, which is considered ideal to the extent that the only professional criticism it attracts is that "it's boring"! Australian Federal Elections have a 95% voter turnout, historically speaking.
1 person likes this
@ANTIQUELADY (36440)
• United States
20 Aug 10
Hi Bill, no it is not compulsory here. I don't vote but know that i should. I have never voted but once in my life & that's been years & years ago. I can't gripe since i don't vote lol but i still do sometimes. Happy weekend to u.
1 person likes this
@RawBill1 (8531)
• Gold Coast, Australia
21 Aug 10
No, that is correct. Technically you should not complain about the government if you are not going to formally have your say, but we all do anyway don't we! I hope that you have a great weekend too.
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
20 Aug 10
I always feel that it's our democratic right to vote and I get most upset when women especially "can't be bothered" because remember the Suffrogetes! Throwing themselves in front of the King's horse an' all that..very brave! I didn't know that it was compulsory to vote in Australia. What a great idea! No doubt there will be a good turnout because of this and I hope the outcome is what you desire. It wasn't here for me..unfortunately.
1 person likes this
@RawBill1 (8531)
• Gold Coast, Australia
21 Aug 10
Yeah, I agree with that Jane. Women especially should vote after fighting for the right to in many countries around the world. Especially as one of our candidates here is a woman! I think that it is sad that still to this day in many countries, woman are not given the right to express their opinion. That is wrong. I think the world would be a much friendlier place if it was majority ruled by women!
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
21 Aug 10
Thanks for that!
• Adelaide, Australia
21 Aug 10
It was us here in South Australia you have to thank for being the first in the world to give women the right to vote. I think she actually tried to grab a part of the King's horse in England to stop or slow him down to draw attention to the cause, but ended up being trampled. Better luck next time :-)
1 person likes this
@veganbliss (3895)
• Adelaide, Australia
20 Aug 10
Hi :-) Just to clarify: It's not compulsory to register to vote, but once you do register & appear on the Electoral Role, you must make the effort to rock up to any polling booth (just one!) & get your name crossed off. You have the right to refuse to vote after that & you will not cop the fine. You can also vote before the election if you're out of the country, etc, etc. I'll be voting though & much to my patient wife's annoyance, I'll be numbering every single box below the big black line instead of the one vote above the line. Last federal election I did the same, & I took f o r e v e r ! My wife wanted to leave me there! I mucked it up (it's easy to get it wrong) & couldn't even find where I went wrong. I went to ask for another ballot paper, but was given an eraser & had to start over. All the Best :-)
@RawBill1 (8531)
• Gold Coast, Australia
21 Aug 10
As far as I am aware it IS compulsory to enrol to vote as soon as you turn 18 years of age and then you are required by law to vote at each election. If you can give them a reasonable excuse you can get out of it. I did so with a council election when I was 18 after they sent me a fine! They do not fine you much though. I did get away with not voting for many years as I moved around so much and they did not have me on the role, but it was illegal for me to do so. As far as I am aware, you guys have it easier down there in SA as you do not have to vote in State Elections. We are required by law to vote at all levels of government here. I agree with Hiccup. I think that you are not legally allowed to erase your vote. I think it makes the paper invalid.
1 person likes this
• Adelaide, Australia
23 Aug 10
Hi RawBill :-) That's where I got it from... State Elections! Thanks for that. I can see it in the rules on the website now. I think the fine is $20. Lesson for the day: research first, then write!
• Adelaide, Australia
21 Aug 10
Can't recall exactly what happened, or if I even used the eraser (it's like trying to recall what I ate for breakfast three years or so ago), but they made sure it was valid in the end. It didn't seem to me at the time that they were playing by the rules. Does anyone know where to find a list of candidates for the Senate this time?
1 person likes this
@mimpi1911 (25464)
• India
24 Aug 10
This is an important question. I think, we all should vote no matter what. I know most of s are utterly disgusted with the current political scenario but we must not just let go our vote ashtray. However, having said this, I do feel the need of a button that says, 'no deserving candidate' so that our vote doesn't go waste. Here, we are not fined for not voting and many do not vote which even though their discretion, I never approve of. Happy Voting Bil and wish Australia a peaceful voting day. may the deserving candidate win.
@mimpi1911 (25464)
• India
25 Aug 10
Yea, that's quite possible! Silly me! BTW, I had no idea that you had your election on Saturday! That goes to show my distance from the current news and from mylot as well. I seem to be running late always these days
@RawBill1 (8531)
• Gold Coast, Australia
27 Aug 10
Ha Ha! Yes I am always late to news items as well because I do not read newspapers or watch TV!
@RawBill1 (8531)
• Gold Coast, Australia
25 Aug 10
Thanks Mimpi. We all voted last Saturday and there is still no result 4 days later. It is too close an election for them to be able to decide on a result. It may even take until next week to decide once they count all of the votes and do deals with the independent politicians who won seats. Maybe if there was a 'no deserving candidate' box to tick, then that one would win and there would be no government!
• United States
21 Aug 10
It is not compulsory in America, but I believe if a person doesn't take the privilege of voting seriously enough to cast one, they should be quiet when things don't go their way. The vote is our one weapon against corruption in politics and if we toss it aside, we can only blame ourselves when things go badly. It would take me being in my casket before I would miss a chance to cast my vote! People who grumble about how much trouble it is to take even a few hours out of their lives to go to the voting booths, should spend a couple of years in a place like Iraq, where they walked miles through treacherous territory for their first chance to use their privilege. Nothing held those folks back - not even the risk of roadside bombs blowing them apart, and WE grumble about the traffic or having to stand in line. Some people don't deserve the right to vote if they see it as too inconvenient to bother doing. Sometimes we have only 11% in local elections and less than 40% always in national ones. That is pathetic in a country of free people. We have grown lazy.
• United States
23 Aug 10
If a country's laws say you MUST vote, but allows you to vote for the person you want - hurray for that country. If a country says you must vote, but tells who you will vote for - that is horrible and the government needs a serious reworking. We are neither forced to vote or told who to vote for and still we take it for granted that if we fiddle around and do nothing, that everything will be terrific tomorrow. One of these tomorrows all who couldn't be bothered to vote, will wake up in a dictatorship with all rights taken away. Maybe THEN it will occur to them just how important their voting privilege is. I hope it doesn't take that before we wake up.
@RawBill1 (8531)
• Gold Coast, Australia
24 Aug 10
There is no doubt that the state of the USA is not healthy at the moment. There needs to be some kind of a shift in consciousness there in order for things to change as it seems to be on an unstoppable spiral downward because of greed and environmental carelessness. The priorities of the USA governments for the last century or so have been completely wrong. They need to stop worrying about the worries of other countries and start getting their own in order or the will become very second rate. Perhaps this needs to start with more people voicing their opinion through voting. When I was over there in 1997/98, no one that I spoke to liked the government, but I bet none of them voted at the time!
• Adelaide, Australia
23 Aug 10
Good on you :-) It's good to get things in perspective sometimes. I wish more people could have your attitude. We could be made to go to the polls again here (which hasn't happened before in many of our lifetimes), & people are already grumbling about having to take time out to go maybe 100 meters up the road to vote again. They should be grateful their voices are being heard, especially as we're the most over-represented country on earth. You're right... it just amounts to personal laziness.
@maffiks (13)
• Australia
21 Aug 10
Yep- loving my right to vote here in Aus :) As you know, there are stipulations for people UNABLE to vote- so people aren't being fined unfairly, and it is compulsory to enroll, but its very difficult to follow up on people who don't enroll, especially if they don't have a taxable income, use medicare or have a drivers license. I also numbered every box on my white paper this morning- all 84 boxes. Made me feel good :)
• Australia
23 Aug 10
Apparently a LOT of people numbered all the boxes this year... cause its taking a long time to get a result :P I feel for the people who's job (volunteers) it is to count all the votes and tally all the preferences, it'll be tough one and the next three years kind of depends on an accurate result.
@RawBill1 (8531)
• Gold Coast, Australia
21 Aug 10
Wow! You numbered them all! I only had 60 on mine and I considered that far too time consuming! I just put the 1 above the line! Yeah, it is hard for them to fine everyone and to be totally honest, I do not think they even bother unless it is really easy to find you. I did not vote for a number of years and they did not catch up with me, even though I had filed tax returns all through this time. I just moved house a lot during that time so I was never on the same electoral role as the first one that I was on. It was only when I settled down and bought a house that I went back on it. I was more mature by this stage and felt the need to vote again.
• Adelaide, Australia
23 Aug 10
Before 1983, we didn't have a choice... everything had to be numbered. I numbered everything below the line... all 42 boxes. I wish we had at least that much choice on the green paper :-)
@tigeraunt (6326)
• Philippines
21 Aug 10
dear rawbill, here in the philippines is not compulsory voting. but children are educated on how important it is to vote. they learn that it is a privilege and a right for all who have aged 18 up to express who they think is the rightful person to lead. they are requested to be vigilant during election time and especially during the counting. we had our first computerized election this year. there were small flaws, I guess, but surely it is better than the manual counting. have a nice day. ann
@RawBill1 (8531)
• Gold Coast, Australia
23 Aug 10
I was thinking that by computerised, Ann was talking about the counting process? Those address books that they have with everyone's names are certainly big and heavy. I can't see them digitalising them though at that process as there is always the chance for technical errors then.
• Adelaide, Australia
24 Aug 10
Yeah, I guess there are huge costs involved as well & as there is no evidence of corruption at that level, there doesn't seem to be a point in changing. My dad is a guard at his polling booth... has been for the past few elections.
• Adelaide, Australia
23 Aug 10
computerized elections! Does that mean online voting? We should have that here! Or is it just for counting or statistical purposes? Those big, heavy look-up manuals sure could do with replacing with something more 21st century, don't you think? Perhaps our lack of corruption at that level doesn't really warrant it though.
@veganbliss (3895)
• Adelaide, Australia
30 Aug 10
Whatarewegunnado? The votes have all been counted (twice!) & they tell us now that we'll have to wait at least another week for a result that "should" have been clear on the same day the polls opened. There are a lot of very unhappy people out there. We are clearly a nation divided. Blame shouldn't be placed on the independents, who are doing all they can to save time & money. They've been saving a lot of time by operating as a group; they hold all their meetings with Julia & Tony together & do most of their thinking together, being generally, so far, in agreement on many issues. Mr Windsor, in particular, has emerged as a very clear-thinking, level-headed individual & has a lot of influence. We need a result fairly soon as our dollar, the business & finance sectors have all been steadily falling, even against the USA, ever since election day. I think we all need to take responsibility for this two-party mentality & the good & the bad that has, until now (in my living memory), served us very well. We are still the most over-represented nation in the world. Elections cost such a huge amount of money that we "can't" just have another one without a lot of compromise & policy re-writes all round. Whichever party gains government, their first priority will be to make sure they can turn the situation around to ensure that party need not rely on Independents when in Government. This is what happened in 2002 in SA Elections & Mike Rann's Labor Party is still in power here. Independents here were just pawns who could be bullied or bought off to have the game won. Here's the latest news; they're down to arguing who will stay in The Lodge: http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/latest/7843794/kingmakers-descend-on-canberra/
@RawBill1 (8531)
• Gold Coast, Australia
31 Aug 10
I don't know what we are going to do about this situation, but there is no doubt that the nation as a whole should be watching what is going on and learning from it. This is not a good situation for the country to be in and I agree that it needs to be sorted quickly. Our dollar is not in too bad a position. I just had a look at the monthly chart and it has not moved much since the election at all. I had a panic when you said that it had fallen as we are in the process of ordering thousands of dollars in stock from the USA and when our dollar falls, so do our profits. I have not looked into the business & finance sectors though. They were saying on the radio earlier that the coalition look like getting in.
• Adelaide, Australia
31 Aug 10
Front page of The Australian (newspaper) today says that the Coalition leads Labor by 2000 votes. There goes Julia's claim for "right to govern"! The Coalition actually has a 618207 primary vote lead on Labor! In two-party preferred votes, the Coalition also lead by 1909 votes! I didn't mean to sound alarmist about the dollar; it hardly moved, but it wasn't moving up. From watching the news, they keep reporting it as falling, but I didn't check the charts :-( Tony Windsor is saying he won't be rushed, so we can expect to wait a good, long while. The National Party are having their say now in Canberra & the outcome looks like it will be a big win for rural Australia, who haven't had Government funding for the last 25 years, so they say.
• Adelaide, Australia
30 Aug 10
Holding another election here will cost us about $50 million just in taxpayers money! http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/latest/7843794/heffernan-says-hes-the-caller/
@veganbliss (3895)
• Adelaide, Australia
28 Aug 10
The latest... It looks to be almost over. The battle is effectively won. The Coalition who have won most of the rest of the marginals, including Brisbane & Boothby in SA, will try to form a minority government as backed also by a recent poll in the independents electorates. http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/latest/7838752/independents-voters-want-coalition-govt/
@RawBill1 (8531)
• Gold Coast, Australia
28 Aug 10
Very interesting. I heard on the radio earlier that this looks like happening. It is not final yet, but appears to be likely.
@fannitia (2167)
• Bulgaria
20 Aug 10
Hi, RawBill1! I live in Bulgaria - a small country in Eastern Europe. The voting here is not compulsory, but in aour neighbour Greece it is. There were major changes in my country in 1989. Until then we had only ONE political party and the elections were fake. After falling of the Berlin wall we had a big participation in the elections as people had big hopes for a change. But the things are not what we hopped to have so many people are tired of voting. I'm like you, I beleive that we should cast our vote.
@RawBill1 (8531)
• Gold Coast, Australia
21 Aug 10
There definitely should be more than one political party or there will be massive corruption in a country. I am guessing that the situation there is better now with more than one. We have many different parties here, but only two that are big enough to gain power over the country. The other smaller parties just use their votes to get some of their policies put in place by the larger parties.
• Australia
21 Aug 10
In Singapore it is also compulsory to vote, and if you don't you will get a fine same as australia. to my voting is very troublesome, but no matter how much we hate to vote we would want to have the right people to lead the country so i guess it is best to vote. Anyway like all the politician say "your vote mean alot to us", lol but it is true your vote may be able to change the impact example asking for a recount and all.
@RawBill1 (8531)
• Gold Coast, Australia
23 Aug 10
Yes, you never know just how important your vote actually is until it gets close like this election. The votes are important to politicians, but perhaps not for noble reasons!
• Adelaide, Australia
23 Aug 10
Too true! There are many seats here that are still on a knife - edge, & any one of those could possibly decide victory. Every vote counts; but sometimes more in some places than others, though we're not to know where until most of the counting is done.
@zandi458 (28102)
• Malaysia
21 Aug 10
This is my first time in a country where there is an election. Comparatively to the Malaysian election scenario, the election campaign here is not very aggressive. There are not many candidates posters seen around the places and there is no obvious sign that there is an incoming election. I guess many Australian voters have decided who to vote and who should be the next Government. It is not a compulsory thing in my country to vote but as patriotic citizens, everyone should exercise their rights for the nation.
@RawBill1 (8531)
• Gold Coast, Australia
21 Aug 10
Hi Zandi. I thought that you had already left for home? It is pretty low key here compared to some other countries. I think that we hear more about the United States elections than we do of our own in the media. I think this is because the USA drag theirs out for so long and they go crazy for it. We Aussies in general are not at all interested in politics really. So you guys in Malaysia sound like you get a bit excited over the process like the USA?
@paula27661 (15811)
• Australia
22 Aug 10
I don’t mind voting and I am glad that I have a say. My ex-husband was an Australian citizen and never bothered to enrol. He never voted while we were together because he didn’t like being told he had to do it which I find really childish! The people voted and now here we are with a hung parliament; it will be interesting to see who gets the big job and how long it will take for that to happen!
@RawBill1 (8531)
• Gold Coast, Australia
23 Aug 10
Your ex husband loved to rebel it seems! I used to feel the same way when I was younger and so I did not vote for most of my twenties, but when I became settled, bought a house and had children, my ideas changed. I happily vote now as I see the need for change and with this election, I can feel it coming finally. The big parties are going to have to start listening to the smaller guys and the people! I don't know how long it is going to take for this to sort itself out. I heard yesterday on the radio that it could take until next week!
@K46620 (1986)
• United States
23 Aug 10
Compulsory? I did not know that. I don't think it should be compulsory, some people simply do not want to make informed decisions as should not be forced to vote.
@RawBill1 (8531)
• Gold Coast, Australia
23 Aug 10
It is funny that most people in the USA do not think that it should be compulsory to vote as they have grown up with having the choice. We here in Australia do not get passionate about politics as much as the United States, but through growing up with it being compulsory, we would probably just keep going if it became not compulsory. If we did not have to do it, our system would not work as well I feel, as we are a nation of only 20 million people that are spread over a very wide area. I think we need compulsory voting to make it fairer on the nation as a whole.
@tomitomi (5429)
• Singapore
21 Aug 10
Voting is just as important anywhere as it is in your country and mine. It's the chance to make our voices heard and change things meaningfully. Voting is compulsory here but that's besides the point as I would even if it's not.
@RawBill1 (8531)
• Gold Coast, Australia
23 Aug 10
Good for you. I totally agree with your values. I would also. There was a time when I was younger when I thought differently, but now I would vote still if I did not have to.
@ermadear (367)
• Indonesia
21 Aug 10
yes, voting is compulsary at my country. and happy election to all of you who joint at that moment. hopelly will choose and got a new PM with good knowledge and netral person. happy election.
@RawBill1 (8531)
• Gold Coast, Australia
21 Aug 10
Ah, so voting is compulsory in our near neighbour Indonesia as well. I thought that it would be there. I have a feeling that the current Prime Minister and her party will regain office as she has only been in the role a few months and she is the countries first ever female leader. I think that people wish to give her a decent go at running the country for a full term.
@gurka84 (66)
• Argentina
21 Aug 10
I'm for Argentina here is also compulsory... but that law its so old that nothing happens if you don't go (I never missed one)
@RawBill1 (8531)
• Gold Coast, Australia
21 Aug 10
Oh, OK! You can get around the fine here if you do not vote, but it is easier to just go down and vote I feel. Also the fine is only small I think.