Are dementia residents in aged care facilities compelled by law to vote in state or federal elections?

Question

In Australia, if you are a registered voter, you are compelled by law to vote. If you fail to vote you will be fined $200.

Dementia sufferers eventually become oblivious to current events, which would render their vote as pointless. Does Australian law recognise this?

To the very first respondent to my question - not the whole world is American...

Answer 1

The following people are not entitled to vote:
* prisoners serving a sentence of five years or more
* people who have been convicted of treason and not pardoned
* people who are incapable of understanding the nature and significance of enrolment and voting

I don't know if it would be a judgment call as to whether a particular patient in care qualifies or whether it has follow a doctor's determination. Some people aren't diagnosed with dementia but they still aren't really aware.

Answer 2

I am an American and I wanted to share an interesting fact with you. Here, where voting is voluntary and is cherished as a precious right, those who have been assigned a "guardian" through the court system due to dementia or mental retardation have that right taken away from them. Often times this decision is made by a judge who has no knowledge or understanding of mental disabilities. I have met many people with such disabilities in my work as a social worker who have lost the right to vote yet desire to have that privilege. They may have a basic understanding of the issues and know who they want to vote for and why, yet they have been stripped of that right through an unfair and usually ignorant legal system. Unfair in my eyes. Just wanted to share that with anyone interested in this issue. It must be strange to be compelled by law to vote and to feel like it is a chore.

Answer 3

Compelled? No one is "compelled" to vote. Do you mean prohibited - so that they can't vote? The answer is that until there is a legal adjudication of their competency, they may vote, and even then the court may let them vote.

Answer 4

No...they are exempt from voting in Australia

bluffmike....think outside America....Its not only Americans that use this website

beckinibeck...."nobody anywhere can ever make you vote" ....how ignorant.

Answer 5

I don't believe they care about voting or if its even on their minds. they do good just remembering how to get out and back to their rooms.

Answer 6

No-one can be compelled to vote.

Answer 7

of course not. Why would you ask that question? To vote you have to be aware and informed, well you don't have to be, but you should know what your doing.

Answer 8

nobody anywhere can ever make you vote