Should voting be compulsory in australia. Why do we have compulsory voting? 2019-01-08
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Should Voting Be Compulsory? Essay Example for Free
The rights and freedoms that we have in the United States should never be made compulsory. For example, non-voters are barred from accessing their own bank accounts for at least 3 months. So when a nation has an alarmingly low voter turnout, it could increase the risk of political instability brought about by crises or leaders with hidden agendas. The fourteenth, fifteenth, nineteenth, twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth amendments all preserve it, mainly by setting out penalties for those parties that try to interfere or deny someone their vote. He can rule by decree like a king while vetoing all congressional legislation to stop him.
Within two decades, all state parliaments in Australia had adopted compulsory voting. Table 2 compares turnout at selected House of Representative elections, including the election held immediately before the introduction of compulsory voting, with House of Commons elections held in the United Kingdom at around the same time. The reality is that, compulsory voting or not, some people just don't care much about politics. By contrast, the turnout of all but 2 electorates in the Australian elections in October 2004 was over 90% the exceptions were Kalgoorlie with 83. It has never dropped below 91 percent. Electorate who are misinformed or uneducated may vote to avoid penalty, but in doing so, they may cast votes out of ignorance.
What about the rest of the world? I say, for the sake of Australia, that voting should not be compulsory. When this happens, it will require a large sum for law to be enforced, which would involve finding out who may or may not have broken the mandate. This should also mean more pressure on politicians to represent the beliefs of all citizens. And recent estimates suggest 7. Indeed, several studies have confirmed that than men when quizzed on their country specific political knowledge. But now, today, what are people doing? Australia government thinks that if they give the option of the voluntary system, no one would vote. Voluntary voting does not necessarily produce bias to the wealthy or well educated.
We are lucky that this country has given the right for women to vote. As a result, politicians embrace the policy-by-focus group approach to governance. In more direct democratic exercises such as referendums, mandatory voting would force people to engage with whatever question were posed — if not at a profound analytical level, then at least as superficially as reading it, briefly processing it and then voting on it. Greater participation would mollify the growing sense of disillusionment and isolation that many people today feel with politics. Considering the Full Electorate Proponents of compulsory voting argue that government and opposition parties must consider the total electorate in policy formulation. Only 10 of those enforce them. If this is too strong an infringement on the civil rights of a citizen, perhaps they should consider their right to consider themselves as such.
I understand if some people don't want to vote, but voting is an important contribution to your community. The turnout figure for the Oct 2004 election in Australia is for the House of Representatives not the Senate. The ballots are open for a week or so and there's also advanced voting. He says showing up to the polls every so often is not a huge burden. Another major advantage of the current system is that it acts as a bulwark against minority groups hijacking the political debate. No or very limited line ups… just walk in, get your name marked off and then if you choose to vote. Many of these countries enforce the law: Australia, perhaps, being the example best known to the western world, legally obliging its citizens to vote since 1929.
Conclusion Mandatory voting, for all of the negative attention it generates, is actually a. Fosters Ignorant Voting When people are forced to do something or suffer punishment, they tend to do it blindly out of fear. . Compulsory voting encourages all citizens to take an interest in politics and pass judgment on politicians at every election. It explains that if you do not provide us with information we have requested from you, we may not be able to provide you with the goods and services you require. Many do not vote because they do not agree with any of the candidates, or they are not informed on politics. Compulsory voting increases the interest of citizens in politics and enhances the political education of the people that are good for the growth of a country.
Should Voting Be Compulsory, Fine for Not, Voting In Australia
When enrolment and voting at federal elections was introduced for Australian Aborigines in 1949 it was voluntary, and continued to be so until 1984 when enrolment and voting became compulsory for all eligible electors. Firstly if every citizen of the country vote as well of the whole of electorate vote, then it easy for the government that is elected by the majority of people to generate policies that are good for the economic growth of the country. Supporters say Australia boasts one of the highest levels of civic participation in the world. Until and unless every Indian becomes responsible and voluntarily stands up to vote. Of the informal House of Representatives votes cast at the 2001 election, 34% had only the number 1, 17% did not complete the full sequence of numbers required and 13% used ticks and crosses.
Sometimes not voting sends a message. There are religious sectors that discourage their members from participating in political events. Only on the assumption that people will turn out in droves either to spoil their vote or to vote without any consideration; a particularly cynical and regressive position, the next logical step of which would surely be imposition of some kind of intellectual requirement for enfranchisement. For opponents of compulsory voting, the question is about the nature and extent of the obligations that it is acceptable for the parliament to impose. Therefore, forcing them to vote explicitly violates their right to practice their religion. As voting is compulsory, electors are given a number of ways to cast their vote at an election, including postal voting, pre-poll voting, absent voting, voting at Australian overseas missions and voting at mobile teams at hospitals and nursing homes and in remote localities, as well as ordinary voting at a polling place in their electorate.
Because that's what normally happens. Even if they sent demand letters to all these people, they could not take all those who refused to pay to court. Surprising though it may seem, of all the rights outlined in the American Constitution the right to vote features the most. Australians who do not show up are subject to fines although those who were ill or otherwise incapable of voting on election day can have their fines waived. Those who have religious or other objections would be able abstain but they would be required to register their abstention by contacting their electoral office in advance or doing so in person at the polling station. If we force everyone to vote, the electorate will become even more irrational and misinformed. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.
