The Ballot BoxBy YULIA ONSMANIt's not compulsory voting - it's compulsory attendance at the polling booth ...
Compulsory voting means
ignoring Election Day is not an option, Greg Barns The percentage of people actually voting may be a lot higher here than in America, but that includes a very large number of people who do it because they have to and apply about that level of brainpower to deciding where they'll put the numbers. Knowing this, political parties focus their efforts on producing catchy slogans and quick 10 second grabs designed to stop people wondering - or Goddess forbid thinking - about policies and track records. Messages designed to make them vote according to the shock or fright factor. Apparently low-income workers and welfare recipients receive the same focus and attention as wealthy Australians from politicians during a campaign "because, as a consequence of compulsory voting, their votes count as much as those of the wealthy retirees, for example". Hmmm, yes well that's the theory and a very pretty theory it is, but it's hardly the reality. Low income workers and welfare recipients got bugger all attention during the federal election just gone and are going to get even less for the next three or four years. Those poor and marginalised voters who don't bother to vote in voluntary systems and are forced into turning up at the polling booth under a compulsory system, know full well the handful of bare bones thrown their way during a campaign is just some pretty rhetoric. Rhetoric designed to address the 'feel good factor' for voters comfortably higher up the food chain than themselves. The outcomes of those bones are unlikely to change the lives of the poor and marginalised for the better in any real sense. As for not having to raise obscene amounts of money for Australian election campaigns - lets wait and see what the total campaign expenditure was for each party - you know the money that paid for all that electronic and print advertising - not to mention the glossy brochures, endless travel and those 'general' running costs. Just for fun we could compare those amounts with that spent by most independent candidates. Compulsory attendance at the polling booth does not force - or even encourage - anyone to participate in democracy. Turning up a couple of times every three or four years to have your name ticked off a list does not constitute meaningful participation in democracy or the political process. At best it forces disinterested people to dash into the booth to vote the way they always have. The way their father/mother/great uncle twice removed voted. Or to vote for the party that will - they hope - protect their mortgage. At worst it forces them to dash into the polling booth, have their name crossed off, and dash out again. Don't get me wrong - I believe voting should be compulsory. But for it to work effectively we need some substantial changes to the current system. Changes such as a capped limit on how much each candidate can spend, donation limits, truth in advertising requirements for political parties and for them to be subject to privacy laws, set terms for governments and the removal of above the line voting for the Senate. The right to participate in Australia's democratic political system is a responsibility to be embraced and treasured. The Australian voting public can only do that if the system is open, accountable, above board and most of all fair - and importantly, seen to be so. Having worked both as a volunteer and a paid employee for the Tasmanian State School Parents and Friends for a number of years, Yulia Onsman is well aware of the wealth of brilliant educational materials out there, aimed at ensuring the voting public know and understand their parliamentary systems. The frustration is that most of it never seems to see the light of day ...
RAPID RESPONSE EMAIL: What do you think? Tuesday, November 30, 2004 |