5 August 2013

Enrol to vote you idiots. Or be panther food.

| johnboy
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Australia’s UN Youth Representative is reminding you all to get on the electoral roll in the next week:

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced today that the federal election will be
September 7.

This gives all Australians until 8pm Monday August 12 to ensure they are correctly enrolled to vote in this year’s Federal election.

The Australian Electoral Commission reports there are an estimated 1.4 million Australians who are not enrolled to vote. A large proportion of those not enrolled are young people.

Currently, nearly 500,000 young Australians will miss out having their vote count on September 7, including 43% of all 18 and 19 year olds.

But why bother? Well the Arabs had a saying about the British which went something like this:

“It’s better to be their enemy than their friend, if you’re their enemy they will try to buy you, but if you’re their friend they will try to sell you.

If you’re enrolled to vote they will try to buy you and that beats the alternatives.

Richard Morgan also has a great line about it that’s worth thinking about:

In any agenda, political or otherwise, there is a cost to be borne. Always ask what it is, and who will be paying. If you don’t, then the agenda-makers will pick up the perfume of your silence like swamp panthers on the scent of blood, and the next thing you know, the person expected to bear the cost will be you. And you may not have what it takes to pay.

If you enrol to vote you’ve got a 1 in 20,000,000 say in what happens to this whole continent. It’s a hell of an offer. If you can’t be bothered you’re just swamp panther food.

The Electoral Commission is letting you know how to get it done.

I don’t ask you lot to do much but get on this for the love of god.

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Solidarity said :

Hows no sound?

Sounds like someone who lacks the maturity to make important decisions like who should run the country.

wildturkeycanoe5:04 pm 07 Aug 13

Call me stupid all you like, [Yes I know I don’t vote directly for the P.M.] but the reality to most people going to the polls like myself, is that the media make it out to be pretty much a Labor vs Liberal election, with the two party leaders about the only ones who get decent prime time coverage. I honestly wouldn’t know who my electorate’s leader is, nor any of the candidates. Abbot vs Rudd is what it all points to and regardless who I vote in my own electorate, it’ll be the winner of those two mentioned that become P.M.
There are the federal government policies which affect major things in our country. If our local favorite has a policy that you just can’t accept, then you vote for the other guy to get your local outcome but jeopardize the chances of your PM getting into power. How is it fair to any voter to be given a choice where you lose no matter which way you vote?

Say I have a local Green MP who wants to save our local park from turning into a 10 storey high rise. The local Labor and Liberals want to build bigger a one. On the national front the Liberals want to dig up the outback for oil exploration and boost our economy, but Labor and the Greens are against it. Which do I make a priority, my local issues or what’s in the nation’s best interest?
See! It is a farce. Nobody wins, especially when the nation is pretty much split 50/50 between the two big parties whose policies are pretty much the same, or their lack of policies makes it impossible to make an informed choice.

devils_advocate3:50 pm 07 Aug 13

Grimm said :

wildturkeycanoe said :

Elections are a farce. I voted for K.Rudd last time, ended up with J.G as prime minister

See people, THIS is why compulsory voting is bad.

While I fully agree that the sheer quantities of stupid in that post are beyond our current means of quantifying stupid – stupid^n if you will – it’s probably worth noting that the recent changes to at least the labour system of electing the party leader/ejecting a sitting PM have probably eliminated the problem.

I realise that the libs have done no such thing but in contrast to labour’s support base, most of the libs’ voters would probably have at least a working knowledge of how this stuff works, thereby obviating the corresponding bogan whinge-fest resulting from a sitting labour PM being ousted.

wildturkeycanoe said :

Elections are a farce. I voted for K.Rudd last time, ended up with J.G as prime minister

See people, THIS is why compulsory voting is bad.

Solidarity said :

You still haven’t given me a good reason to enroll.

Obviously, if I wanted to vote, I would enroll.

Chyeah, it’d just make you into another stupid conformist.

wildturkeycanoe said :

Elections are a farce. I voted for K.Rudd last time, ended up with J.G as prime minister and Labor didn’t run the country, the Greens and Independents did.

Oh gods, the stupid hurts so much…

You didn’t vote for Kevin Rudd, unless you were in the electorate of Griffith. You didn’t vote for Julia Gillard unless you were in the electorate of Lalor.
You voted in relation to a member in your local electorate, who as a result, lent their support to the Party’s chosen leader.

We have a representative democracy, rather than a direct democracy.
(Largely because the idea of “answering to everybody simultaneously” is almost practically synonymous with “answering to nobody specicifcally”, so currently leaders answer to their Party)

wildturkeycanoe said :

In the end, whether we vote for one party or another we won’t win because the elected leaders can back-flip on their promises without the country having any say.

You don’t seem to have understood that a the idea of forming a coalition along preference & workability lines is actually fairly internationally.
Australia’s concept of “a vote not for one of the Two Majors is wasted” is bizarre, but heavily promoted by the Major Two because they are interested in maintaining the combatative attitude amongst electors because more votes = more money.

wildturkeycanoe said :

We need a total revamp of our “Democratic” system to one that actually achieves what it is supposed to, pleasing the voters with a person in charge who follows the wishes of the majority of the country, not someone who bends backward to please a “balance of power” that had only a few percent of the population vote for them.

Congratulations. Instead of selecting for strong leadership in the face of criticism, or the idea of a Wise Statesman, the situation you have just described is called mob rule.

LSWCHP said :

Solidarity said :

Hows no sound?

All around the world people have undergone nameless horrors in pursuit of the privilege of having a say in who gets to run the show where they live. Exercising this privilege is something that very few people in the course of human history have had a chance to achieve.

That being said, whatever you do, please don’t vote. If you vote, it seems very likely that your poorly thought out and foggily ill-considered choices will cancel out my careful and well considered contribution to the electoral process. It would make me sad to think that my contribution to democracy was neutralised by a dimwit.

You still haven’t given me a good reason to enroll.

Obviously, if I wanted to vote, I would enroll.

pink little birdie9:37 am 07 Aug 13

[qoute] Elections are a farce. I voted for K.Rudd last time, ended up with J.G as prime minister and Labor didn’t run the country, the Greens and Independents did. Mine and millions of others’ valid votes counted for nothing.Unless our elected leaders have the power to do what we voted them in to do, I see no point in having an election. Even with a Liberal Federal government you can have all the states run by Labor, what kind of crazy, contradictory system allows this? The centuries old British system, that’s who.
In the end, whether we vote for one party or another we won’t win because the elected leaders can back-flip on their promises without the country having any say. Sure, they lose the next election in 4 years time, but it’s all too late by then, because the policies implemented are set in stone and can’t be removed. We need a total revamp of our “Democratic” system to one that actually achieves what it is supposed to, pleasing the voters with a person in charge who follows the wishes of the majority of the country, not someone who bends backward to please a “balance of power” that had only a few percent of the population vote for them.

Also Gillard was the leader of the Labor party at the previous election.
Maybe Australia needs to do e-learning module on citizenship, the different responsibilities of state and federal governments etc

wildturkeycanoe said :

Elections are a farce. I voted for K.Rudd last time, ended up with J.G as prime minister…

Julia Gillard replaced Kevin Rudd before the last (2010) election.

Swamp panthers eat turtles and armadillos. Although what business an armadillo has with a swamp is a mystery.

wildturkeycanoe said :

Elections are a farce. I voted for K.Rudd last time=

Do you live in Queensland?

IrishPete said :

Antagonist said :

davo101 said :

Antagonist said :

I don’t mind my name being made available for the right reason. But I do not want them made available to any member of the public to peruse just to be sure I have ‘enrolled correctly’.

In which case apply to be a silent elector.

And just to bring the discussion around to complete the circle, the AEC will only let me be a ‘silent elector’ if I believe my life, or that of my family could be threatened. The AEC get to decide if that threat is real or perceived if if that status will be granted. The fact that I want my address details kept out of the public view “I damn well feel like it, and I want my privacy to be respected” is not a good enough reason for the AEC to respect my wish to be a silent elector. So the AEC can GAGF.

They can only be accessed by someone visiting in person. Unless they are a candidate in which case they get an electronic copy. Elected politicians can get that updated every three months I think.

The AEC wants you to get all that junk mail…

IP

They have to attend the AEC in person to access my address details? Yes, Pete. That makes it sooooo much more acceptable now.

wildturkeycanoe8:15 am 07 Aug 13

Elections are a farce. I voted for K.Rudd last time, ended up with J.G as prime minister and Labor didn’t run the country, the Greens and Independents did. Mine and millions of others’ valid votes counted for nothing.Unless our elected leaders have the power to do what we voted them in to do, I see no point in having an election. Even with a Liberal Federal government you can have all the states run by Labor, what kind of crazy, contradictory system allows this? The centuries old British system, that’s who.
In the end, whether we vote for one party or another we won’t win because the elected leaders can back-flip on their promises without the country having any say. Sure, they lose the next election in 4 years time, but it’s all too late by then, because the policies implemented are set in stone and can’t be removed. We need a total revamp of our “Democratic” system to one that actually achieves what it is supposed to, pleasing the voters with a person in charge who follows the wishes of the majority of the country, not someone who bends backward to please a “balance of power” that had only a few percent of the population vote for them.

PantsMan said :

Yeh, vote. That would make you but one more bump on the road for the inexorable march of the inevitable Labor/Greens Marxist cabal that rules the ACT.

Yeah, that’s right – remember when they seized the means of production and established the dictatorship of the proletariat?

Oh, neither do I.

Yeh, vote. That would make you but one more bump on the road for the inexorable march of the inevitable Labor/Greens Marxist cabal that rules the ACT.

Antagonist said :

davo101 said :

Antagonist said :

I don’t mind my name being made available for the right reason. But I do not want them made available to any member of the public to peruse just to be sure I have ‘enrolled correctly’.

In which case apply to be a silent elector.

And just to bring the discussion around to complete the circle, the AEC will only let me be a ‘silent elector’ if I believe my life, or that of my family could be threatened. The AEC get to decide if that threat is real or perceived if if that status will be granted. The fact that I want my address details kept out of the public view “I damn well feel like it, and I want my privacy to be respected” is not a good enough reason for the AEC to respect my wish to be a silent elector. So the AEC can GAGF.

They can only be accessed by someone visiting in person. Unless they are a candidate in which case they get an electronic copy. Elected politicians can get that updated every three months I think.

The AEC wants you to get all that junk mail…

IP

davo101 said :

Antagonist said :

I don’t mind my name being made available for the right reason. But I do not want them made available to any member of the public to peruse just to be sure I have ‘enrolled correctly’.

In which case apply to be a silent elector.

And just to bring the discussion around to complete the circle, the AEC will only let me be a ‘silent elector’ if I believe my life, or that of my family could be threatened. The AEC get to decide if that threat is real or perceived if if that status will be granted. The fact that I want my address details kept out of the public view “I damn well feel like it, and I want my privacy to be respected” is not a good enough reason for the AEC to respect my wish to be a silent elector. So the AEC can GAGF.

Solidarity said :

Hows no sound?

There is no sound. When you aren’t enrolled to vote, you have no voice.

davo101 said :

Antagonist said :

I don’t mind my name being made available for the right reason. But I do not want them made available to any member of the public to peruse just to be sure I have ‘enrolled correctly’.

In which case apply to be a silent elector.

No, you cannot claim silent elector status just because you don’t like the idea of your personal details being publicly accessible. Says so on the form.

Antagonist said :

I don’t mind my name being made available for the right reason. But I do not want them made available to any member of the public to peruse just to be sure I have ‘enrolled correctly’.

In which case apply to be a silent elector.

beardedclam said :

Solidarity said :

Pros: No need to vote, no jury duty
Cons: None as far as I can see?

Just removes the requirement for me to draw a large penis on the voting form.

removes the right you have to complain/comment about anything any government in Australia does. Thats your choice which is cool, just remain silent when you think about letting us all know your thoughts on any policies etc.

I think paying taxes and being a citizen of the country still remains intact even if a person chooses to not vote for the latest bunch of losers posing as politicians who give a toss.

If you think about it sensibly, governments are chosen by the majority and the majority chooses based on personal bias, good advertising and marketing techniques. So voting is simply a depressing exercise for those who don’t buy into the two-three party system.

Vote if you must but leave aside your disgust for the parties you dislike rather than the people who choose not to vote for them. I usually vote but it’s a tough call this year as there’s not a single politician I’d let into my house let alone vote into power.

milkman said :

Antagonist said :

I have never been comfortable with the idea of my details being made available for anyone to see, just by walking into their nearest AEC. Apparently ‘I do not want my details made available to the general public’ is not a good enough reason to have my details kept private.

They’re not. The current electoral roll is not public. You can view older copies at the National Library, though.

Incorrect. All you have to do is tell them that you are checking to see if somebody is “correctly enrolled to vote”. So I might be tempted to check the enrolment details for a girl I like … did I mention that I like setting fire to things that I like? Or I might be inclined to send white powder to that Centrelink employee that looked at me funny today.

http://www.aec.gov.au/faqs/Electoral_Roll.htm

I don’t mind my name being made available for the right reason. But I do not want them made available to any member of the public to peruse just to be sure I have ‘enrolled correctly’.

To qualify to vote in Australia, I had to pass a written (computerised) test which asked questions about the system of government, Phar Lap’s batting average and the size of Don Bradman’s heart. I got all the questions right in about 90 seconds.

What did you do to qualify to vote in Australia? You stayed out of prison? Or you got out in time for the election?

I support compulsory voting 100% (and I don’t think the 80 or less percent we achieve now, when you take into account the huge numbers not enrolled, is acceptable), but it may be worth people having a think about the different standards applied to qualify for immigrants and people born here, and take some personal responsibility to educate yourself.

IP

IrishPete said :

And to the person entreating kiddies to enrol, they can’t. Obviously, you have to be 18, or nearly.

IP

You can enroll at age 17, you just can’t front up and vote unless your 18 or older.

Antagonist said :

I have never been comfortable with the idea of my details being made available for anyone to see, just by walking into their nearest AEC. Apparently ‘I do not want my details made available to the general public’ is not a good enough reason to have my details kept private.

They’re not. The current electoral roll is not public. You can view older copies at the National Library, though.

Antagonist said :

I have never been comfortable with the idea of my details being made available for anyone to see, just by walking into their nearest AEC. Apparently ‘I do not want my details made available to the general public’ is not a good enough reason to have my details kept private.

What have you really got to hide though?
You are aware that the details that politicians get about you from the AEC are vastly enhanced compared to what is on the public roll. There is DOB and ocuupation; also, if you are female and married your maiden name can be accessed, also previous addresses etc.

IrishPete said :

And to the person entreating kiddies to enrol, they can’t. Obviously, you have to be 18, or nearly.

You can enrol as young as 16. Why you would want to? NFI. But you can if you insist…

Solidarity said :

Hows no sound?

All around the world people have undergone nameless horrors in pursuit of the privilege of having a say in who gets to run the show where they live. Exercising this privilege is something that very few people in the course of human history have had a chance to achieve.

That being said, whatever you do, please don’t vote. If you vote, it seems very likely that your poorly thought out and foggily ill-considered choices will cancel out my careful and well considered contribution to the electoral process. It would make me sad to think that my contribution to democracy was neutralised by a dimwit.

Antagonist said :

I have never been comfortable with the idea of my details being made available for anyone to see, just by walking into their nearest AEC. Apparently ‘I do not want my details made available to the general public’ is not a good enough reason to have my details kept private.

I agree. It would not be difficult for the AEC to establish an IT process that required proof of ID from enquiring minds and automatically written or email notification to the enrollee as to who had been making enquiries about their enrollment.

I have never been comfortable with the idea of my details being made available for anyone to see, just by walking into their nearest AEC. Apparently ‘I do not want my details made available to the general public’ is not a good enough reason to have my details kept private.

there are somewhat less than 20 million adults eligible to enrol JB. Quite apart from the under 18s, a lot of Australian residents who work and pay taxes, aren’t allowed to vote. There is a saying about taxation and representation.

And to the person entreating kiddies to enrol, they can’t. Obviously, you have to be 18, or nearly.

IP

pink little birdie8:06 pm 05 Aug 13

I updated my details but the system seemed to pre fill my name and my previous address to another name and a place in SA that I’ve never lived

And if you don’t like the sound of being part of a democracy, there’s always the lure of sausage and bacon & egg sangers. If you’re lucky, there might also be a cake stall!

It’s better than that, it’s a 1 in ~14,500,000 say!

c_c™ said :

Ben_Dover said :

“Don’t vote, it only encourages them.”

Billy Connolly.

“…we do not say that a man who takes no interest in politics is a man who minds his own business; we say he is a man who has no business here at all”

Pericles

No matter who you vote for, a politicians is always elected.

Or the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band version – No Matter Who You Vote For the Government always gets in.

Ben_Dover said :

“Don’t vote, it only encourages them.”

Billy Connolly.

“…we do not say that a man who takes no interest in politics is a man who minds his own business; we say he is a man who has no business here at all”

Pericles

“Don’t vote, it only encourages them.”

Billy Connolly.

davo101 said :

If they can’t find you on any of the dozens of other databases you already appear on.

Well, each of those has privacy constraints and are subject to usage requirements, and rarely goes whole-of-government.
Usage of the Electoral Roll by those prescribed parties is explicitly for the purpose of person/address resolution in relation to the prescribed purposes…

Solidarity said :

Cons: None as far as I can see?

A specific negative for you: 1 Penalty Unit fine (currently $170) for failure to enrol after 21 days of eligibility, and a $20 fine for each occasion you have failed to vote

Solidarity said :

Just removes the requirement for me to draw a large penis on the voting form.

You can still draw on the form even as an enrolled voter, your vote justs risks declared informal if the renders your numbers illegible. Too much detail in the dickpic risks the resulting artwork being declared obscene and\or distracting.

PS: Enrol to vote kiddies, or the AEC will set the snarks and grumkins onto you.

thebrownstreak693:14 pm 05 Aug 13

Solidarity said :

Pros: No need to vote, no jury duty
Cons: None as far as I can see?

Just removes the requirement for me to draw a large penis on the voting form.

You know you can cast a formal vote and still draw a big penis on the ballot paper, right? I generally draw smiley faces and/or write rude jokes on the ballot paper (but carefully, I want my vote to count).

Solidarity said :

Pros: No need to vote, no jury duty
Cons: None as far as I can see?

Just removes the requirement for me to draw a large penis on the voting form.

removes the right you have to complain/comment about anything any government in Australia does. Thats your choice which is cool, just remain silent when you think about letting us all know your thoughts on any policies etc.

Solidarity said :

Pros: No need to vote, no jury duty
Cons: None as far as I can see?

Just removes the requirement for me to draw a large penis on the voting form.

Cons: 1/ As the saying goes, “You get the Government that you deserve”;
2/ You lose all rights to bitch and moan on RA (or any other forum) about any issue that a Government caused (or could rectify);

Pros: 1/ In the ACT, while the Libs will never lose their Senate seat, ANY extra votes going towards Labor or the Greens would increase the attention that we get from all parties.
2/ You won’t be looked at with contempt when you tell people that you don’t bother voting.

Solidarity said :

Hows no sound?

Chyeah voting is for stupid conformists.

Pros: No need to vote, no jury duty
Cons: None as far as I can see?

Just removes the requirement for me to draw a large penis on the voting form.

Skidbladnir said :

Mixed upside\downside is are that you’re a whole lot easier to locate\isolate\remove from a line of enquiry for almost all other government investigative purposes, or if you have a blood borne disease…

If they can’t find you on any of the dozens of other databases you already appear on.

Solidarity said :

Hows no sound?

Sounds like you’ve relinquished the right to complain about anything at all.

Solidarity said :

Hows no sound?

Like a s*** idea.
Seperate from any “Political parties will pander to your interest in order to win your vote” motivation, “Being on the electoral roll” makes getting back into Australia at the border if ever you lose your pasport (or require consular assistance) a whole lot easier.

Mixed upside\downside is are that you’re a whole lot easier to locate\isolate\remove from a line of enquiry for almost all other government investigative purposes, or if you have a blood borne disease…

The AEC’s TV add encouraging people to enrole is quite appropriate with Pandora’s box opening at the end.

Hows no sound?

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