Australians: Check your Enrolment, And Vote.
2010-Jun-25, Friday 16:11Yo. Australian Citizens. Apropos of our sudden change of Prime Minister to Julia Gillard, and the fact that we'll have a federal election within the year, go check your electoral enrolment at https://oevf.aec.gov.au/, and please vote.
I feel pretty strongly that it's every Australian's civic responsibility to at least attend a polling booth on election day (or postal/pre vote as appropriate).
Not simply because it's required by law, but because I think it's your one chance to participate directly in the political system of this country. People have protested, fought, and died both historically and to the present day around the world to secure the right to vote. Don't waste yours.
You don't have to do anything other than get your voting paper on election day and then vote nothing at all - if that is a genuine expression of your actual political preferences.
I personally think that you should seek to be more informed about politics and thus have more complicated political preferences than that, but I'm really not going to argue with anyone who believes that that is their actual preference, so long as they still exercise a citizen's right and responsibility to obtain a ballot paper.
I feel pretty strongly that it's every Australian's civic responsibility to at least attend a polling booth on election day (or postal/pre vote as appropriate).
Not simply because it's required by law, but because I think it's your one chance to participate directly in the political system of this country. People have protested, fought, and died both historically and to the present day around the world to secure the right to vote. Don't waste yours.
You don't have to do anything other than get your voting paper on election day and then vote nothing at all - if that is a genuine expression of your actual political preferences.
I personally think that you should seek to be more informed about politics and thus have more complicated political preferences than that, but I'm really not going to argue with anyone who believes that that is their actual preference, so long as they still exercise a citizen's right and responsibility to obtain a ballot paper.