What happens to Australians who do not vote?

[Lsbcal]

Answer:

Voting at State general elections, by-elections and referenda is compulsory.

If you did not vote at a State election or referendum you may receive an email, text message or notice in the mail seeking an explanation of your apparent failure to vote. Please respond to the electronic message or complete the form and return it in the envelope provided.

Electors who fail to vote at a State election and do not provide a valid and sufficient reason for such failure will be fined.

The penalty for first time offenders is $20 and this increases to $50 if you have previously paid a penalty or been convicted of this offence. If you do not have a valid and sufficient reason for not voting, you can pay the penalty and that will end the matter.

Electors who do not respond to notices or do not pay the prescribed penalty may have the matter referred to the Fines Enforcement Registry and could have their driver's licence suspended.

Maybe you should vote in US elections?

The turnout for Australian elections is 95%.

 

[aja8888]

Answer:


Maybe you should vote in US elections?

.

I did.

 

[Lakewood90712]

My understanding is they are put on a prison ship and sent to the U.K.

 

[audreyh1]

My understanding is they are put on a prison ship and sent to the U.K.

Good one!

 

[mbooth]

My understanding is they are put on a prison ship and sent to the U.K.

LOL

The upside of our compulsory voting system is that nomatter what, we get a government the majority of people wanted.

The downside is that, nomatter who we individually voted for, bloody politicians get into government

 

[Texas Proud]

I would hate to have forced voting...


I would suggest that the vast majority of people who do not vote no nothing about the candidates or whatever else is being voted...


Now, one thing that I would love to have is that no small gvmt entity can give notice and have their own election whenever they want... that happens here all the time and it creates new taxing districts with maybe 2% of the people voting...


One that got through here was an emergency district... the called for an election... someone who knew what was going on got the word out that there was a tax grab... it was voted down by a wide margin.... SOOOO, what does a good politician do Well, call another election of course... and do the absolute minimum notice required and get it passed...


BTW, we cannot undo these things... just have to live with paying more taxes to more entities...

 

[mbooth]

I would hate to have forced voting...


I would suggest that the vast majority of people who do not vote no nothing about the candidates or whatever else is being voted...


Now, one thing that I would love to have is that no small gvmt entity can give notice and have their own election whenever they want... that happens here all the time and it creates new taxing districts with maybe 2% of the people voting...


One that got through here was an emergency district... the called for an election... someone who knew what was going on got the word out that there was a tax grab... it was voted down by a wide margin.... SOOOO, what does a good politician do Well, call another election of course... and do the absolute minimum notice required and get it passed...


BTW, we cannot undo these things... just have to live with paying more taxes to more entities...

Under your US electoral system I can fully understand that, there is no incentive for the populace to be edumacated and therefore there is an inbuilt complacency/meh factor.

But under our upside-down system, where there is a nominal monetary penalty involved, it actually forces our voters to think about things a little more. Sure we have our rednecks [we call them bogans] but nevertheless I'd suggest our system leads to a more considered and balanced voting public.

We have our left/right, Dem/GOP divisions, with rusted-on voting lifers, but I also believe we have a much bigger 'swinging-vote' component that considers the policies in play at election time and makes a considered response. We have a lot of cross-party to-and-fro, but it generally leads to 'compromises' to a greater extent than the US cross-aisle 'negotiations', at least from my observations.

We have different electoral systems, not saying one is superior to the other

 

[happy2bretired]

I think that mandatory voting happens in Brazil too. Maybe it’s more common than I thought. I already voted so this last minute push is a waste of money on me.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

$20 fine. Although I have also read of folks being fined up to $1000, that seems extreme. People who posted such could be exaggerating. I found all this by searching for Australian Non Voting fine.

"Section 245 of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 provides for a fine of $20 where an enrolled elector fails to vote at a Federal election without a valid reason."

 

[marko]

I would hate to have forced voting...


I would suggest that the vast majority of people who do not vote no nothing about the candidates or whatever else is being voted...

Never really thought of it until this ^

I see a lot of people who shouldn't be allowed to own dogs, let alone help determine the state of the union.

No clue whatsoever. Met a guy once who lived in our town for 30 years and had no idea who the mayor was, and worse yet, wasn't interested in knowing.

 

[MRG]

Never really thought of it until this ^

I see a lot of people who shouldn't be allowed to own dogs, let alone help determine the state of the union.

No clue whatsoever. Met a guy once who lived in our town for 30 years and had no idea who the mayor was, and worse yet, wasn't interested in knowing.

I remember all the kids in school who ate paste. Some still do and vote!

 

[GravitySucks]

My understanding is they are put on a prison ship and sent to the U.K.

LoL
You win the internet

 

[NYEXPAT]

We have it in Peru too and the fines are about the same. The worst part is for many in Lima they need to travel back to the province where they were born to vote. We end up giving our nanny a few days off and travel money as it is 14 hours away by bus!

 

[Scrapr]

We have it in Peru too and the fines are about the same. The worst part is for many in Lima they need to travel back to the province where they were born to vote. We end up giving our nanny a few days off and travel money as it is 14 hours away by bus!

works that way in Chicago too

 

[Free To Canoe]

My understanding is they are put on a prison ship and sent to the U.K.

This is the best thread I have read in a while.

...
"Section 245 of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 provides for a fine of $20 where an enrolled elector fails to vote at a Federal election without a valid reason."

Maybe they should index it for inflation.

I remember all the kids in school who ate paste. Some still do and vote!

We have a few paste eaters where I live, too. I will get to touch base with them tomorrow when they come in. I am working as judge of elections.
This and the dog owner comment has me thinking that this would be an improvement or go the other way and require testing before being allowed to vote.

 

[zinger1457]

Got something interesting in the mail about a week ago concerning voting. It was a list of houses on my street and it listed whether that household voted during the elections for each of the past six years. It was a somewhat threatening tone to expose you if you don't vote, they weren't pushing for any party or candidate, at least not in the mailing. The house number part of the addresses were blanked out but apparently in numerical order so since I live on a small street with only 3 houses it was easy to figure out who voted and who didn't. Don't recall the full name of the organization that sent it "Citizens for .....", it went in the trash. I always vote but this is the first time I've seen anything like this.

 

[marko]

Got something interesting in the mail about a week ago concerning voting. It was a list of houses on my street and it listed whether that household voted during the elections for each of the past six years. It was a somewhat threatening tone to expose you if you don't vote, they weren't pushing for any party or candidate, at least not in the mailing. The house number part of the addresses were blanked out but apparently in numerical order so since I live on a small street with only 3 houses it was easy to figure out who voted and who didn't. Don't recall the full name of the organization that sent it "Citizens for .....", it went in the trash. I always vote but this is the first time I've seen anything like this.

THIS is scary. Really.

[Edit] A few minutes later I realized that in this Facebook age, I suspect many folks not only tell the world that they voted, but who they voted for and how much they donated to whom and why, along with photos of them in the voting booth, what time they were there and who the met while walking to the polls.... and so on.

 

[braumeister]

Whether you're registered or not and whether you voted or not is public record.

But those mailers are definitely creepy.

 

[copyright1997reloaded]

The Soviet Union had forced voting also.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

There have been some sad mailings here in Florida too, as well as TV Ads. But they have been pretty one sided.

 

[unclemick]

Hmmm. As I understand it the registered non - voters are the largest bloc.

Soo should we fire all elected officials and install - 'none of the above?'



heh heh heh -

Remember I'm from SW Washington where the PUD had 'management day' once a year where we let 'them' climb poles and do actual 'work'.

Voted early and leaving I saw a vehicle with a bumper sticker. 'Humpty Dumpty was pushed.'

 

[Chuckanut]

I'd pay $20 to be able to vote for "None of the Above" and have it count in the tally.

 

[youbet]

Never really thought of it until this ^

I see a lot of people who shouldn't be allowed to own dogs, let alone help determine the state of the union.

No clue whatsoever. Met a guy once who lived in our town for 30 years and had no idea who the mayor was, and worse yet, wasn't interested in knowing.

Yeah, there are lots of uninformed, uninterested citizens for sure. But if they all were compelled to vote, the group of uninformed, uninterested citizens that certain political groups get out to vote would be diluted and have less impact.

Here in Chicagoland, it's rumored that folks rounded up from underneath bridges, gin-mills and shelters, plus absentee ballots brought into nursing homes where "voting help" is provided to the residents, amount to a significant percentage of the total votes during low turnout elections.

And we haven't even gotten into folks voting from the grave or living at non-existent addressses!

 

[NW-Bound]

I have read that in some Communist countries, they handed out food ration coupons at the poll. Is there any more powerful incentive for voting?

And it did not matter that there was only one candidate to vote for. The government wanted to be able to say with a straight face that the supreme leader was elected by 99.8% of the people.

 

[copyright1997reloaded]

I have read that in some Communist countries, they handed out food ration coupons at the poll. Is there any more powerful incentive for voting?

And it did not matter that there was only one candidate to vote for. The government wanted to be able to say with a straight face that the supreme leader was elected by 99.8% of the people.

Yes, and no secret ballot.

After all comrade, why would you want to hide your devotion to the state?