Now is a good time to ask the old question. Do you think that voting should be compulsory or voluntary?

Question

In Australia every citizen is required to vote so populist policies and personalities can and do effect the outcome of elections.
Very few Labor, Liberal or whatever voters have any say in the selection of their party candidate. That is done by party members.
Since the candidate will represent a faction within the Party a dozen or less people actually decide the outcome in an electorate.
How democratic is that?
Many of us would be better off not voting at all. That means leaving the ballot blank.
Better to stay at home and risk a fine!!

Answer 1

Well you have beenliving in the dark ages havent you. How the BHell can a dozen or so people decide an election? The "party" members nominate people as (pre-selected) candiates to represent their party in a particular seat at the election. People who miss out or are not affiliated with a party run as independents. Ultimately they ALL stand for election in the seat and the PEOPLE decide who they want. You and I are both voting today, and in my local electorate there are over 30 candiates to choose from representing about 5 political parties and a bunch of independents.
Ultimately Govt is formed by whichever party has the majority of seats so how on earth can you get off saying that a dozen people decide an election!!. Sure you are not a "non-australian" pretending to be Australian and spouting off about things that you clearly know nothing about!
Populist polices and personalities.. so what is wrong with that.. they are elected by majority rule so if we stuff up then we suffer the consequences. Would you rather a dictatorship?
Just remember that only donkey's put in a "donkey vote"!

Answer 2

If you want a real democratically elected government and one that is truly representative of ALL the people, compulsory voting is the only way. In a true democracy, even the so-called "stupid" have democratic rights that must be afforded them if we are to honestly call ourselves 'democratic'. Should it be that only people who have a political science degree be allowed to vote? Should it be that people have to sit a test before they are allowed to vote? In and real democracy EVERYBODY votes so that EVERYBODY has a say! Compulsory voting is a way of making sure that everyone in the democracy takes responsibility for their part in that process. Voting is the civic responsibility of every person - just like paying taxes or obeying the road rules. It should be compulsory.

Voluntary voting ensures that only people with a vested interest in the political process get ALL the power and it will inevitably lead to corruption and political inertia. It is not democracy!

Compulsory Voting = True Democracy

Answer 3

I realize that you are speaking from an Australian point of view but one example where there has been an upward trend in voluntary voting is in Oregon State in the US where by sending out the ballots to all registered voters through the mail, the rate is over 70%

While many states were embroiled in fights over touch-screen voting machines and provisional ballots and struggling to find enough people to staff polling places, Oregon once again quietly conducted a presidential election with record turnout and little strife.

Oregon's vote-by-mail system has proved reliable and popular. Critics said that vote-by-mail is prone to fraud. But signature verification of every voter before a ballot is counted is an effective safeguard against fraud."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A40032-2004Dec31.html

Answer 4

Compulasory voting would be much worse.

How is randomly selecting a name an informed decision? Also, since primarily lazy people don't vote, the candidates would have another incentive to pander to the gullible, the lazy, and the hopelessly confused. Right before election time, they would offer all sorts of "freebies" to lure hapless, dumb voters to select their name at the ballot box.

We've got enough of that already.

Answer 5

I reckon it should be voluntary because it a waste of time to vote when they both as bad as each other.

Answer 6

I think, people should go voting on their own, but with the restriction of:
a) being reasonable informed
b) not voting on tear jerk issues like abortion
c) having at least an IQ of 85% (which would eliminate 50% of the US population)

Answer 7

it should be compulsary everone should have a say at who leads there country an how it is going to be run

Answer 8

As it is, our electorate is largely uninformed. To make it compulsory would make that problem a lot worse.

Answer 9

There are people dying in Irac so you CAN vote,

Answer 10

voluntary, so that hopefully stupid people will not vote

in America, where I am, I am thankful for how many stupid people don't vote. if they did vote, it would get even worse than it is