wolf wrote:In countries with compulsory voting, you have the liberty to cast an unvalid vote once you're in the booth. Your vote will then be accounted as a vote for the majority.
That doesnt seem right. If you cast an invalid vote, your vote is simply tossed out and not counted, right?
Holland had compulsory voting until somewhere in the sixties, I think.
Oh, I voted in every election yet.
I'm glad to see eBeth bring up one of my hobbyhorses, btw - voting none of the above. Wait, lemme look it up and copy 'n' paste ...
nimh wrote:in Russia, they have an additional option on the ballot. You can vote, if you want, Unity or Union of Rightists or Communist - but you can also vote "against all the above". [..] In 1993 4,2% voted "against all". In 1995, 2,8% did so.
nimh wrote:I just discovered that one American state actually has this option as well. The printed ballots in Nevada actually include the option to vote for "NONE OF THESE CANDIDATES". In 1996, 5,608 voters did so - 1,2% of the total number of votes. Quite a lot, actually, I think!
Source:
http://www.ballot-access.org/1996/allvotes96.html (a very interesting page - and website - for third-party buffs, btw).
Thats from this interesting thread:
Which governmental system better represents the electorate?
In Oz an informal vote is simply not counted, but the way I understand is that officials are voted "in" not voted "out". Which means if every vote was invalid the incumbent would remain in office, because no-one else had been voted in.
And that's as deeply as I can think at this time of night.
At the end of the Franco era in Spain, during the very first elections in 40 or so years, EVERYONE was required to vote. The purpose was to get the wheels of democracy moving fast, counter the feeling of many (particularly in rural areas) that they had no say. My farmer neighbors grumbled a bit but also took great pride in participating. Spain had a notably easy transition from stifling dictatorship to modern democracy. Possibly that first effort to get out the vote played a part in the success.
Quote:Spain had a notably easy transition from stifling dictatorship to modern democracy.
Yeah, but having the Guardia Civil still lingering about is a little creepy...
I've voted in any election since I'm 18 (it's down to 16 in some elections now).
Additionally. I've been in electoral committees in our constituency for all elections (Europe, federal, state, county, community) since several years.
Compulsary voting is done - as far as I know/could find out in:
Argentina, Liechtenstein, Ecuador,
Bolivia, Panama, Greece, Costa Rica, Singapore, Honduras, Dominican, Uruguay, Luxembourg,
Belgium, Philippines, Egypt, Brazil, Switzerland, Guatemala, Cyprus , Venezuela.
The Netherlands stopped doing so in 1970 and Austria just a couple of years ago.
Hi, Walter. Do you know why the Netherlands and Austria stopped compulsory voting?
I've cast a vote in every election since I was eligible to vote. When I am faced with unspeakable choices, I will cast a write in.
shoesharper wrote:Hi, Walter. Do you know why the Netherlands and Austria stopped compulsory voting?
in the netherlands - s far as i know - mostly cause in the 60s ever more people started not showing up anyway, and since they werent actually going to go after these guys in any case ... might as well scrap the whole rule.
(the dutch are famous for adapting the rules to the reality ... ;-)
also, of course, change in thought about the principle - that democracy by definition can not be about obligation. if democracy is the right to choose, it should also be about the right to not choose. that kinda shift in thought would go naturally with a decade of individualisation, resistance to authority ..
but yeh, i didnt look it up and it was before my time - i'm just talking from what i remember having picked up about it.
Thanks for the information. Stands to reason with the temper of the times.
I don't quite understand the relation between voting and talking about current political issues. I generally find that the more I read up on the issues, and the candidates, the less I want to vote for any of them.
The non-confidence vote on the ballot is a very good thing indeed.
cavfancier wrote:I don't quite understand the relation between voting and talking about current political issues. I generally find that the more I read up on the issues, and the candidates, the less I want to vote for any of them.
The non-confidence vote on the ballot is a very good thing indeed.
This might be a way in countries with just two or some more candidates/parties.
I truely think that only voting can change anything
... and/or being a candidate yourself :wink: .
cavfancier, I understand your lack of confidence, but we need to face the fact that our non-confidence votes would only work if we lived in England. My write-in votes probably have little impact, but sometimes I can't bear to vote for either party. The more people vote, the greater likelihood of finally getting candidates that we can really get behind, not just settle for. The opposing political parties scour everything, but they know they are safe for the time being because only votes for candidates on the ballot are actually counted. That is of course not counting Florida.
I look at voting as a very basic building block to political involvement. If you vote, you might consider becoming active - either as a candidate or campaign worker. By voting, you're doing the bare minimum to be a citizen in a democracy. If you don't vote, well, you're not really a responsible citizen. That's definitely my not so humble opinion. Don't test me on that one in real life - I've been known to do some seriously major rants on this subject.
Well, I'm certainly not willing to incur the wrath of ehBeth. I'll be out there on Monday....I'm still going with Nunziata though...I have a friend who is running for councellor in Ward 44, Scarbourough East. Looks like he won't make it though.
Vote for him anyway. I'm not giving a command, that sounded a little authoritarian, but you know what aI mean, I hope. Support your candidate.
Nothing wrong with voting for Nunziata.
yes, i always vote; but my candidate seems to have a hard time getting elected. what should i do, vote for the favourite (YEACH !), drop a blank ballot into the box or hope that all the other people will realize that MY CANDIDATE is the right one ( i know it's the right one ! people wake up !). hbg
