Tuesday, November 06, 2007

Compulsory voting

I'm off to South Africa tomorrow and in the brief turnaround period since arriving back from New Zealand this afternoon, I have made enquiries with the Australian Electoral Commission about the best way to cast a vote in the forthcoming Federal Election on 24 November - since I will still be away. Well, said the person with whom I spoke, you know that it isn't compulsory to vote if you're overseas when the election takes place. But, I said, fearing that she thought that would be an end to my enquiry - no compulsory requirement = no reason to vote - what if I still want to have a voice. In that case, since absentee voting wouldn't apply (I would be out of the jurisdiction), and since early voting wouldn't open until 14 days before the election, the options were a postal vote (which we weren't sure would find its way to me in South Africa and back to Australia in time), or voting at an early polling station - either in Rockdale or Haymarket. Of course, there is probably another option - depending on whether they have started asking for identification when you roll up to vote - which is just to have someone zip into a polling place on the day, get my name crossed off as having voted - but, most importantly, to cast my vote to help change the balance of power in the lower and upper houses of Parliament. Have to do something ... otherwise how (ir)responsible would I feel if the party I wanted to win didn't for lack of a single vote. Unlikely I know ... but anything's possible in a democracy.

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