Australians: Check your Enrolment, And Vote.
2010-Jun-25, Friday 16:11![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thorfinnYo. 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.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-28 07:59 (UTC)It is your right to vote informal if you so choose. But please, for the love of all that is either holy or profane (whichever you prefer), please do NOT pocket your ballot and walk out with it, and especially don't replace it with a Chick tract.
At the end of the night, we have to account for every ballot paper that we can. In many countries, missing ballot papers may constitute evidence of election fraud. We get paid the same amount whether we leave at 10pm or 3am, and if there are too many ballot papers that we can't account for (say, 5 or more), then have to do a full recount then and there.
Deface it, write a slogan on it, just leave it blank... if that's what you really want to do with your vote, on your head be it. But please, just put it in the damn box.
Besides, the Chick tract won't be read.