Some of you may have noticed that the United States of America has elected a new president. All this talk of high voter turnout and history-making moments got me to thinking. How does voting go down in the land down under?
Australia practices compulsory voting. All citizens, ages 18 and above, must enroll to vote and in turn, attend a polling location during election time. In 1924 compulsory voting was enacted on a national level. Aborigines were let off the hook until 1984, whereupon they too were made to partake in their (former) country's electoral process. If an Aussie doesn't want to cast a vote, electors are known to cast 'informal votes' whereby one turns in a blank ballot.
The penalties for not voting aren't excessively severe. If a citizen fails to show up on election day, they must provide a reason for their absence or face a $20 fine. If the citizen does neither within 21 days, they face an additional $50 fine, plus court costs. Ouch.
What nation, you ask, can call itself a democracy when it forces its citizens to vote!? Consider these statistics, dear reader. The voter turnout in Australia during the last election was 91.4%. That's pretty good, right? In fact, Australia has the highest voter-turnout of any democratic nation in the world. And the U.S.? Preliminary estimates are showing that on Tuesday, November 2nd, 2008, 64.1% of eligible U.S. citizens cast their votes.
Interpret those numbers as you will but ask, dear reader, what citizen can call themselves part of a democracy if they do not exercise the right to vote?
For more information on Australia's Electoral Process and the debates surrounding compulsory voting, check out these links:
2 comments:
While interesting, this doesn't really have anything to do with cinema, does it?
Trueché.
I shall compensate accordingly.
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