Compulsory Voting Australia

Today for most Australian’s the potential of what a vote can represent is lost in political apathy and some could argue that this directly relates to how the leaders of the two main political parties continually compete for the populist vote. This environment is dominated by the media portrayal of our political parties and as a result of this, policies for the long term interests of the country have become secondary to short term wins (Marsh, 2010).

In recent years, society has noticed increasingly minute numbers of voters. Regardless of what is causing people to stay home, it is a big issue. Voting is a right, every citizen is entitled to having a voice in the government. We can choose to vote or we can choose to abstain. This is not an issue, until voting numbers are so low it is hard to even call elections. To help fix this, countries have implemented a system called "Compulsory Voting", or more blatantly put as "Mandatory Voting". This system would require all citizens (capable) to vote. On paper, this seems like a good idea. However, it is a removal of right. To have a right is to have an option. We as citizens have the right to almost anything we want. The Constitution gives us options. You wouldn't say we have the right to pay taxes. We are required to pay taxes. Obligations are not considered rights. Making the right to vote mandatory would be removing one keyword. RIGHT.

The civic issue that my point of view has changed on is the 1st speaker’s issue for the second speaker’s corner reflection. The speaker’s issue is that more Canadians need to vote. He states that only about 60% of the citizens voted in the last federal election. He also continues and says that if 60% of the population is voting for a government that is representing 100% of the population, you can’t really call that a truly democratically elected government anymore. By having more people to vote, we can have a government that represents our country the best since everyone’s opinions are considered. This can allow our country to develop into an even greater country. The speaker suggests that Canada should introduce some form of mandatory voting legislation to encourage people to vote. This civics issue is important to all Canadian citizens because our government represents 100% of the Canadian population. This is also another

These include Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Greece and Singapore, to name a few. Twelve of these nations aggressively enforce the compulsion of voting, giving penalties and charging fees who violate such law. One of these is Australia. It has been requiring its citizens to participate in federal elections since 1924. The country’s argument to this strict mandate is that it needs to address low voter turnout, which is currently below 60 percent.

At last, its 21st Century Democracy in United States, that is why nothing but a general view for mandatory voting has nothing to do with today’s politics. It’s almost signifying the central promise of American citizenship. Generally saying, let’s eat the cake for which many generation marched, fought and died. As discussed in the paper, everyone have their own problems but giving a few minutes to vote can solve this problems for future generations. Making federal voting mandatory will bring a big change in the way the candidates offer beneficial speeches. And this will make America

Voting plays an important role in the modern lives that can easily shape the whole world. While some people believe that voting should be voluntary, I believe that voting should be mandatory for more social benefits. This essay will discuss the reasons why voting should be compulsory.

Voting in many countries is held in different ways. In The United States of America, voting is voluntary while the Australian citizen has to vote, it is compulsory. When an Australian citizen does not vote they receive a fine. Compulsory voting has now become a large political issue for many countries. Great Britain has seen a dramatic decline in the number of people voting in the last 15 years (Singh, 2014) and compulsory voting has become a large political and social debate. However, as with any political change, there are strengths and weaknesses. The Australian system is an excellent one to analyse as the question has to be asked when introducing compulsory voting what are the long term democratic, economic and social issues? Four key points can be outlined to consider the strengths and weaknesses of the Australian compulsory voting system. The first, compulsory voting provides a clear and accurate representation of an entire electorate. Additionally, this system may influence an increase in support for the leftist policy in a current democratic institution. Another key issue to consider is, does an active and informed citizen have a moral duty and obligation to vote to protect and further society? Key constitutional changes brought about by referendums can prove that compulsory voting is essential and needed in society for every vote to count. Lastly, compulsory voting when being a secret ballot can turn into a more compulsory “turn up” for many citizens as they can

Since the turn of the twenty first century, in Canada voter turnout has made a significant and consecutive decline. In the last five federal elections on average only sixty-one per cent of eligible voters voted. If each eligible citizen voted in an election the government would be on par with the primary interests of the people. The easiest way to achieve this objective is by implementing a compulsory voting system. Mandatory voting systems are appealing because all citizens are affected by decisions made by the government, so it makes sense to have all those affected apart of the election process. As a result, the voting results would be more representative of the country and that would lead to an increase of stability and legitimacy.

In recent years, due to non compulsory voting, our national affairs and international affairs have been affected. America should have compulsory voting because of increased voter turnout rates, the questionability of the legitimacy of our government and the education of politics for the people.

The reading passage basically states that the law which makes the voting compulsory has a positive future outcome. The reading material points out that because of the low turn vote in Australia in 1922 the voting has become mandatory. Nowadays the turn vote in Australia presents almost 94% because it becomes habit for the citizens. Actually in 20% of the democratic nations to vote is obligation established by the law. As an example are given countries like Thailand, Greece, and Luxembourg. The low voting rate cast doubt on the legitime of the chosen government. Upon the passage, the voting could be compared with the taxation. The nation should

In this essay, I would like to discuss the major obstacles to voting, recent changes to overcome voting barriers and the political influence of changed rules. Low turnout in the U.S. reflects that there are obstacles for people to voting and changes to overcome these obstacles may also bring new problems to different social groups. I will elaborate on these aspects in the following parts.

The right to vote has been fought for many generations both past and present. The woman’s suffrage movement ,which began in 1848, not only give women the right to vote but allowed the struggles of woman be known. During the 1950’s and 1960’s many black activist fought for fair and equal voting rights.Today, all Americans, over the age of 18, have the right to do so. Although this may be true, is it our civic duty to vote? Moreover, should Americans be required to vote? According to text 3, line 1, Some believe that mandatory voting restricts democracy while others believe it expands it. In American history, there has been a period of time when a woman and/or people of color could not vote and consequently people fought for these rights. The

Voting compulsion can very simply be defined as the process of electoral participation being law binding. However, the process and fundamentals of compulsory voting are not as simple. Twomey, in her article Compulsory Voting In A Representative Democracy: Choice, Compulsion, And The Maximization Of Participation In Australian Elections describes compulsory voting to stand “… at the intersection between the principles of maximum participation of the people in elections and the expression of genuine choice.” Within this essay, I critique compulsory voting to show that it is a contradiction to basic civil liberty, it will be straining in terms of cost to enforce, and that random voting is most likely to distort results and with it the validity of our governmental system. I show this through the analyzation of several scholarly works in contrast to the arguments of critics who ensure that compulsory voting is for the greater good of society. However, this essay will refute this point by addressing the downfalls to this system and how these downfalls cannot be overlooked simply because of turnout.

Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen, adjudicator, opposition and my fellow debaters. The topic for our debate is that ‘Australia should become a republic’. We, Gladstone Park Team 2 agree with the definition put forth by the affirmative team. However, we, the negative team, believe that statement is false.

Voting is the most basic right of a democratic government; men and women fought, over the course of several hundred years, to win the right to enfranchisement for everyone, regardless of race, sex, or socioeconomic status. Yet, many people today do not utilize their right to vote, despite the sacrifices hundreds of people made to give them the privilege. Usually, this is a result of ignorance--be it ignorance of the election, ignorance of how to vote, or ignorance of the necessity of voting. And it is a necessity, for every eligible voter to do so; voting is the foundation of democracy, and the government cannot function properly if its people do not participate and play their roles.