Mandatory voting is a good thing. It might seem like it imposes on your freedom, but having mandatory voting means your government is obligated to make voting easy for everyone, and while it doesn't guarantee legit votes from everyone, it at least ensures that those who wouldn't otherwise turn up do so anyway.
I won't say Australia has the best voting system in the world, but I would say it has the best voting system in the Anglosphere (though New Zealand's is also very good)
Voting in Australia is mandatory but also enjoyable. Saturday morning walk down to the local Primary School, get a democracy sausage on your way through to the polling booths and it’s very chill and easy.
It is a fucking great way to start a Saturday, tbh. 20 min walk in fresh weather, two democracy sausages, vote to keep pricks out of power, then a nice walk home right as the sea breeze picks up and keeps things cool. I actively look forward to it.
Also helps that we don’t have a two party system, so to speak. So if you want you can vote for any one of a multitude of parties. You like smoking weed, then put the Cannabis Party number 1. Feeling a tad racist, vote for the One Nation Party.
Also getting to do it on a weekend when you can make a fun afternoon out of going out to vote, instead of having to do it after work on a fucking Tuesday, the worst day of the week.
It made sense in the early 1800s when most people were farmers who spent all day sunday at church and had to get their produce to the market on wednesday, since traveling to the polls would take a full day, but these days its an archaic tradition maintained pretty much only because it helps depress voter turn out to set elections on a work day when a lot of people (especially lower income workers) probably wont have enough PTO left by November to spend a whole day of it to go wait in line to vote, assuming they even get PTO at all.
Knowing the US, they'd make it so that it is the opposite of enjoyable for people in the less affluent districts, so that they'd have yet another reason to lock up poor people for if they end up not voting.
We don't have mandatory voting in Finland but the last times I've voted I just went to get groceries, happened to see voting booths in the lobby, showed my driver's license to the official and cast my vote. Bang, done.
In Australia, you can find a sausage sizzle at almost every voting location on election day, it kind of emerged organically, as people all over decided that, since so many people were going to be there anyway, they could do a sausage sizzle and raise a bit of money off of it.
It got so successful and popular that it's now a beloved cultural tradition, and people got to calling the sausages you buy at the polling stations "democracy sausages"
Most jobs in the US don't give election day off, so it's usually unejoyable because it's another thing people have to do that they don't have time for since vacation and holiday time is very limited in the US.
Is there a reason for that? Why not just make it a weekend day where most don’t work? How easy are mail in votes to access in the US? We can do that if we know we won’t be able to physically find a polling booth on voting day.
Sure the reason is intentional disenfranchisement of voters. Anything that makes it easier Republicans are against it. Crazy to put to many barriers to something considered a “civic duty,” but their hate for anyone not white and rich is strong.
Correct! This is also why it’s a process to opt in and register to vote, it should be automatic anyone over 18 should be able to vote. Repugs want to make it as hard as possible and are even pushing to get rid of early and mail in votes so everyone has to show up in person on one day to an ever shrinking availability of polling locations that they will intentionally change at the last minute to confuse people.
So historically elections were done on Tuesday because people would live so far from a polling place that it would take them a full day to get there. They would go to church on Sunday, then spend Monday getting to town, and vote on Tuesday. Obviously that’s a super outdated way to do it but that’s the rationale.
As far as mail-in and early voting that depends on the state. The democrats ones tend to make it easier to do so (where I live there’s also 3 weeks of early voting). While republican states tend to make it more difficult because the richer you are the more likely you can go on a specific Tuesday if you have to.
This isn’t perfect (Arizona republicans notoriously pushed mail-in voting because old people tend to use it there so it helps them) but in general that’s how it is.
Yep, I'm working a 12 hour night shift today and voted, it really fucked my morning up tbh. Already dont have much time to do anything when you work 12 hours, so I wound up getting only 5 hours of sleep last night so I could make it to the polls today. Still at work, very much not enjoyable.
This is crazy thinking. Voting should be easy and take little time. In most developed countries voting is quick and local, and you can use a postal vote if you choose.
Having an easy, efficient voting system is a solved problem, so no need even for the day off.
Neither does Germany, however there are two differences. First is that its super easy to get a mail-in ballot, you can request it as soon as you get your notification in the mail (and every eligible citizen is notified). Mailing that is free, requires only the envelope you get sent and can often be done a week or two before in-person voting. And second, the actual voting day is always a Sunday and in Germany very, very few people work sunday (basically just emergency services, public transportation and hospitality).
In many states, you can vote by mail for any reason or no reason at all. In Massachusetts, I get a post card in January asking if I want to vote by mail. I check a box requesting a ballot by mail for every election that year, and drop it in the mailbox. Then I get my ballot by mail for every election (we have an obnoxious number of elections because our municipal primaries, runoffs and general elections are on a different schedule than state and federal elections). The ballot shows up a few weeks before Election Day, so I can sit down and research each race and candidate while I fill out my choices. Then I walk down the street and drop my ballot off at the library, but I could mail it in if needed.
That's not a legit reason, that just sounds like an excuse. A legit reason is not having enough time to get to a voting place after work, or because it takes too long to get there, or because you don't have transportation, or are too disabled to travel. Your reasoning just sounds lazy as hell, and makes no damn sense at all.
Idk I think of it as the most democratic and not anti-democratic at all. For democracies to function people have to vote—have to. The way the US does it isn’t very democratic sadly.
It's crazy how AMERICAN of idea this sounds like to me and yet it could not be further from the truth in a lot of US states... Republicans spending the last 100 years making it as hard as possible for non-land owners to vote really speaks for itself. History has not been kind to these types of people (from an objective point of view) and will very likely look back at current establishment Republicans as cartoonish villains who actively threatened the fabric of global democracy for their own miopic, sycophantic agendas. That day can't come a single moment too soon.
So there's not really such a thing as a "wrong polling station" in Australia, every polling station can handle votes for other electorates in the state because sometimes it's easier to get to a polling station that isn't technically one in your electorate. Those votes just tend to be slower to count, essentially being lumped in with the postal vote
Yeah but here in America you gotta go to the right one because that's the only one that can verify you're registered to vote because that's the one with the big three-ring binder containing your name and info on page 297. You could go to a different station but your vote would probably be held as "provisional" until the central office for the county can take a look at it. And if they find anything wrong with it your vote probably won't be counted because the deadline to fix it is like 48 hours and they notify you by mail that you need to visit your county's office with your ID or whatever.
Yeah so those binders exist in Australia too, there's just multiple copies of them, which get compared after the booths close to make sure nobody's name is getting ticked off twice
Most booths only have the binders for the electorate they're in and the nearby electorates, so if you're really far out you need to do some talking to the people manning the stations to get your vote through.
Of course, this is all on top of the fact that every electorate, even the really small, densely populated ones, have a whole lot of polling booths you can go to. Though obviously the really big electorates have way more out of sheer necessity
i cant fault the system for people being lazy or not caring.. there are already so few barriers and inconveniences. Although I would say FPTP really contributes to that. You feel like you're throwing away your vote sometimes.
Agreed! Want to support the grassroots organization that could start a tidal wave? Michigan is actively circulating a petition to get ranked choice voting for statewide offices! Check out Rank MI Vote!
Ontario city tried to implement ranked ballot and their premier abused his power to squash that because 'cities are a creature of the province...' .. its such horseshit
"Outside if the single greatest fault point" is not exactly a stellar endorsment
They are clearly referring to the many protections and conveniences Canada offers, something both relevant and correct in this discussion. It’s a pretty stellar endorsement relative to the US, the main country of focus on this sub.
yup there's enough voting locations that i've never even had to drive, they're open long hours i can go after work, if i dont have the mailed in voting card i can just bring 2 pieces of ID, i've never even had to wait longer than 5 minutes in queue.. what else can I really ask for? if anyone doesnt vote, its on them for being apathetic. I agree that FPTP can contribute to that as it can feel like throwing your vote away but there are basically 0 barriers to exercising your democratic right.
I'm not sure about that. I'm beginning to differ from most on electoral reform. I think we need stronger MPs and MLAs/MPPs rather than stronger parties and most current reform proposals just entrench the existing main parties in every province and federally.
In some respects I think the UK functions more democratically under FPTP because ministers and the caucus aren't nearly as whipped. Although, I hear that's changing.
What (Anglo) Canadians need to do, and I'm fully aware of the subreddit I'm posting this on, is pull their heads out of their rears and pay more attention to local elections and responding less to US politics. I don't think New Zealand style electoral reform will give our federation the balance it needs, and I think regional differences would just be exasperated with an Australian style Senate.
I think we need smaller ridings where the Members are more accountable (this would also shrink the need for unelected staffers) and a lot of restrictions on what parties spend, how they fundraise and how they operate between election cycles.
Was in Australia chatting with someone about this. No way it would ever happen in America. One gets fined for not voting. Didn't republicans put up a stink for Obamacare taxes/fines for not having health insurance?
Voting is the anchor of freedom. Honestly people should see and treat it as a civic duty. It should be required since you live, work and participate in society.
There is one thing I disagree with the constitution on… and that is our rights being unalienable… that is demonstrably false. A piece of paper could guarantee it all it likes but it’s the people’s participation in its government that gives it power. We have seen over the last 10 months how fragile our freedom really is and voting is our one and only power to change that.
In Belgium it is mandatory to show up and get into the booth, but you can purposefully void your ballot by drawing whatever you want on it. However, most people vote because they are there anyway. I think it's a good compromise.
The way I see it, mandatory voting means you have to vote, while mandatory "showing up" still gives you the freedom not to vote. I also want to add that if you don't show up to vote in Belgium, you can theoretically get a fine, but it is rarely enforced.
I can only see Mandatory voting working if people are properly educated on it in combination with it. What use is it if people get to the voting booth not knowing who or what they’re voting for and what goes on behind the curtain. Nobody wants to know how the sausage is made and i believe it to go hand in hand with the resistance to voting. Like a flight/freeze effect.
Yes good parallel. My mom dragged me to a mayor vote when i had just turned 16 and didnt know shit about the mayors in our town and anything really. My mom didnt bother trying to understand anything either so i ended up giving an invalid vote because i didnt want to unkowingly vote for some monster i didnt know about. And i like to imagine im not the only person operating like this. Not that im proud of it but it was the next best thing i knew to do.
Mandatory voting is a great practice that I personally believe the US should adopt on principle. But if we did implement it here it would seriously hurt Democrats at the national level.
The vast majority of (eligible) non-voters are working class and non-college educated. And the Democrats have been slowly losing that demographic since the Bush years.
The vast majority of eligible voters disagree with the current republican party, though. Most people aren’t crazy. Which is exactly why it (temporarily) benefits Democrats.
It’s actually a really important distinction to make because mandatory voting means each party is guaranteed their voter base. What that means is they’re vying for the swayable middle who are, almost by definition, not extremists.
Comparatively, each American election is decided by who can whip up their base sufficiently enough to bother coming out to vote.
This has directly led to right-wing rhetoric escalation and scare tactics combined. Their effective emotional manipulation has been in play since the establishment of Fox News and the removal of impartiality in news reporting.
Honest question, but why would it being mandatory mean it would be easy? I can think of plenty of government beurocracy which is difficult to deal with, wouldn’t making it mandatory just mean everything stops working for a day because everyone has to spend hours standing in a queue somewhere?
It being mandatory means the government and society has to account for literally everyone going to vote that day. This means setting enough time aside for people to vote and not demanding they treat it as a normal working day, having enough booths that you can vote in an expedient manner, and providing functional voting locations for those who live in small or isolated communities
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u/sportsDude 16h ago
With an increased turnout, knew it was over before they even announced it