A question for Australians ?

J

jimintoronto

Well-known Member
I see that you just held a national election in your country, and that voting in your country is mandatory for all eligible voters. My question is this...What happens to an Australian citizen, who does NOT vote? Are there penalties ? If you know, can you tell me what the results would be, for Not voting ? Thanks. JIMB.
 

No we haven't just held an election - it is next weekend with official voting day being Saturday May 3rd May.
Some people may have done postal votes or early votes though.

Yes voting is mandatory and there are fines if you do not vote.
( obviously valid reasons aside - emergency hospital admissions etc)
 

January said:
No we haven't just held an election - it is next weekend with official voting day being Saturday May 3rd May.
Some people may have done postal votes or early votes though.

Yes voting is mandatory and there are fines if you do not vote.
( obviously valid reasons aside - emergency hospital admissions etc)
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Thanks. I was mis-informed about the date of your upcoming national election. JIMB.
 
jimintoronto said:
I see that you just held a national election in your country, and that voting in your country is mandatory for all eligible voters. My question is this...What happens to an Australian citizen, who does NOT vote? Are there penalties ? If you know, can you tell me what the results would be, for Not voting ? Thanks. JIMB.
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They are deported to the U.S. where they fit in with the 40% of the U.S. citizenry, who don't vote.
 
I think we are lucky to live in a country where every voice is counted - we have the freedom and the responsibility to vote

(although strictly speaking voting is not compulsory - nothing to stop you getting your name crossed off the electoral role at the polling venue and then not putting a vote into the box)
 
I remember years ago, when there was an Australian Election,
all eligible, Australian Voters, who lived and worked in the UK,
had to vote in their Embassy here in London, the reports in the
press at that time, listed London as Australia's second biggest
city, because of the number of voters, even if they lived in the
North of Scotland, probably a lot of postal votes were allowed.

Mike.
 
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Some religious groups in Australia don’t vote , I know the JW’s don’t

We did a early postal vote due to being away ,it was easy …requested a postal vote online ,posted it back the same day, we were informed a few days latter it had been received
 
Is the vote secret? Someone might want to protest at mandatory voting and deliberately spoil their vote by selecting every candidate, or no candidate.
 
yes it is a secret ballot - you can deliberately spoil your voting slip to make it invalid if you want. Or put it in blank

however like I said before it isnt strictly compulsory to vote - you can get your name ticked off the roll and take the voting slip and put it in your pocket and walk out if you want.

I guess you could do it as a silent protest about mandatory voting if you want - nobody would know.
 
@Mike - it is easy to make yourself ineligible if you are an Australian citizen but living permanantly overseas - you apply to get your name taken off the roll o n the grounds you are permanently living in another country
My daughter lives in England and she did that.
Of course you have to do it in advance of election day though.
 
January said:
yes it is a secret ballot - you can deliberately spoil your voting slip to make it invalid if you want. Or put it in blank

however like I said before it isnt strictly compulsory to vote - you can get your name ticked off the roll and take the voting slip and put it in your pocket and walk out if you want.

I guess you could do it as a silent protest about mandatory voting if you want - nobody would know.
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Thanks for that. Democracy is fundamentaly frought, after all, Hitler came to power through legal and democratic means, but mandatory voting goes against the basic tenet of freedom of choice.
 
Has that always been available, January?
I am going back to the late eighties/early
nineties!

There must have been a lot here in those days.

Mike.
 
horseless carriage said:
Thanks for that. Democracy is fundamentaly frought, after all, Hitler came to power through legal and democratic means, but mandatory voting goes against the basic tenet of freedom of choice.
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well. in your opinion.

I think mandatory voting is important to have all voices represented. So politicians don't get elected in from half the population and a huge chunk of the population are not under represented.
We all have responsibility as well as rights.

But any rate highly unlikely to change in foreseeable future.
 
Why would you want people who lack the concern, motivation, or intelligence to make an informed decision and go the polls . . . why on earth would you want to force those people to vote?

In a democracy, "the people" rarely get the government they need, but they ALWAYS get the government they deserve. :rolleyes:
 
horseless carriage said:
Thanks for that. Democracy is fundamentaly frought, after all, Hitler came to power through legal and democratic means, but mandatory voting goes against the basic tenet of freedom of choice.
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We don't see it that way. I will be voting early tomorrow rather than wait until Saturday.

I take my right to vote seriously. I don't just listen to campaign promises and rhetoric.

I keep my eye on what goes on in parliament between elections.
 
Tommy said:
Why would you want people who lack the concern, motivation, or intelligence to make an informed decision and go the polls . . . why on earth would you want to force those people to vote?

:rolleyes:
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well Australia looks at it the reverse - why would you want to effectively exclude sections of society from having their voice represented? It is a responsiblity that everyone has.
and is highly unlikely to change in Australia - that is the way it is here.

of course people who genuinely lack the intelligence to vote - eg have an intellectual disability or dementia - do get exempted.
 

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