should compulsary voting in Australia be scrapped??

Question

i want your opinion, should compulsary voting in Australia be scrapped?? Please explain your answers

Answer 1

Interesting I didn't know about this, I live in the US.

In my humble opinion I think if you force someone to vote you are bound to get the same or worse results then if you don't force them. The idea of voting is to let the people decide issues and what people they want even if that is to let someone else decide them by not voting. To me a good vote is something that needs to be backed by research and deciding what you feel is right. You might be able to get people to vote for fear of some penalty, but what you won't get is anything more then someone pretty much picking something with no information or just out of resentment.

As the saying goes you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink. You will get a vote cast, but you won't get someone that is actual participating in the process.

Answer 2

If you as citizens of Australia want mandatory voting, that is your affair. If you object and want to end it, that is also your affair. It's your country, mate !

But as long as you are asking our opinion,...

As someone who lives in the US, I think that we are better off with ignorant people staying home and not voting; however, I fear that the reason most people don't vote here is that they feel that their vote no longer matters. They have political beliefs and opinions, but they no longer believe that their votes will make any difference.

It is the ignorant who DO vote that have created the problems in society today, with the charlatans that they have believed, and the incompetents and political hacks they have elected.

With the two-party system that we have evolved in our country (as opposed to multi-party parliamentary democracies and coalition governments, and proportional representation in European nations), we have also developed a system of gerrymandering of electoral districts that creates permanent majorities and permanent minorities in a district . When half an electorate KNOWS that their party will never win a seat in a certain district, they see no reason to vote, since their vote, and the votes of all of their fellow citizens of that party, no longer mean anything but a futile protest. It is, to paraphrase one writer, like the bubble of gas erupting in the lava flow, before it all hardens to solid rock.

The other reason for disillusionment of the electorate is that there is such a power in incumbency with campaign contributions by special interests that a challenger has little chance of raising money to challenge, much less beat a long-term incumbent. Only the wealthy, or those who are friends of the wealthy can run for office.

If we passed a law requiring all adult citizens to vote, (excepting the insane or critically ill),it would only result in more protest votes for impossible third-party hacks and crackpots, rather than a serious choice between the two major candidates. People object to being FORCED to do anything; and any politician who would advocate, much less introduce a law requiring mandatory voting,would face strong opposition from ordinary people who would vote--and vote out that politician. Many would regard mandatory voting as adding insult to injury, like their other mandatory duties imposed by an overreaching authoritarian government.

So, if you want to force people to vote, there is no guarantee that you got any better or better informed voters than if you let them decide if their vote matters, and possibly stay home. Would the outcome be any different? It is hard to say. In the US , when we conduct our opinion polls, we always have to differentiate between those persons who are registered to vote, and those persons who indicate they were "LIKELY' to vote in the next election. The difference in the polling numbers can be large, even decisive in some close races. But not consistently so. You make your choice, and take your chances either way.

Answer 3

It depends - as we live in a liberal democracy, it is arguable that in order for our country to remain a true democracy we need the votes and preferences of an entire nation. To the contrary it can be argued that it is undemocratic to force people to vote.

By making voting not compulsory, people may be disenfranchised - for instace people from lowe socio-economic backgrounds, people from non-english speaking backgrounds and so on. If the political parties know that these people are less likely to vote - they may not focus their policies on issues which are important to this class of people. On the other hand, one may argue that these people are already marginalised.

If voting is compulsory, political parties can focus their attention and money on making policies which are appealing for the majority of Australians. If it is not compulsory, then they may need to focus their attentions, and funds, on trying to get people to vote.

I don't really have an opinion either way - these were just some of the arguments I used at uni.

Answer 4

Yes,

It should be scrapped. Its forcing people to vote.

Who cares if people are apathetic. They already are in this country, forcing them to vote doesnt change that.

Maybe it would make politics much more interesting then the comatosed pathetic bull we have to put up with.

Answer 5

This is like waving a red flag at a bull for me!
NO!!!!!
All countries should have compulsory voting, in particular the US who leave it up to the rest of us in the western world to try and make up for their stupid choices, governed by apathy.