Election 2010: a failure of democracy1.4 million Australians are not on the electoral roll, 729,000 were enrolled but didn’t show up at the polling booths and 400,000 voted informally. Where is the outrage? asks Michael Danby.
Voting
Star f-ckers, beer, getting frisked: voting in London is polls apart
Voting … that’s ticking all the right boxes in London, is a mostly beer-and-skittles experience, writes Crikey reader Jessica Crouch from London.
It’s not what politicians say, it’s what we think they say
Studies have found that our lifestyle, genes and income affect how we sift through the effluence coming out of politicians’ mouths. Two groups of informed voters can hear the same thing very different ways.
Do Australians still vote along class lines?
Once upon a time, brickies voted Labour, bankers voted Liberal and the Greens were but a twinkle in Mother Earth’s eye. But have things really changed? Possum Comitatus looks at the data.
Steve Fielding decides if you vote or not
It’s madness that politicians get to decide their own electoral regulations. Now, “wild-card” Steve Fielding has power over whether thousands of young people vote, writes Dominic Knight.
Did Australia’s electoral system cost Avatar the Best Picture Oscar?
This year, the Academy Awards replaced its US-style “first-past-the-post” voting system with Australia’s preferential model. But it may have been the reason Avatar didn’t score the coveted “Best Picture” gong, explains Peter Martin.
Julie Bishop: Why I don’t agree with compulsory voting
Australia is out of step with most democracies by enforcing compulsory voting. If voting is a “right” then it should also be a right not to vote, writes Deputy Opposition leader Julie Bishop.
What’s Australia’s real voter turnout?
The paradox of automatic voter enrollment is that once we have a more comprehensive electoral roll, the official turnout rate will drop. So while we currently rank as the country with the highest voter turnout, our numbers are likely to go down. Peter Brent does the maths.
Dust off your Smiths albums, it’s 1988 and the Australia Card all over again!
Stock up on the ammo and canned food! Bernard Keane’s conspiracy theories on electoral reforms are flat out wrong, says Peter Brent.
Sweet sixteen and never been polled
It’s absurd to claim 16 year olds are not capable of having political opinions and voting on them, says Hugh Jorgensen
Sweet sixteen: no vote for you
If 16 years olds are allowed to vote, then it opens the flood gates for gambling, violence, porn and drinking at 16. Our compulsory voting comes with great responsibility, writes Kenneth Wiltshire.
Vote now for radical reforms to Australia’s electoral system
The Government is taking submissions on some wide-ranging reforms to Australia’s electoral systems, including letting non-citizens vote, removing “truth in advertising” requirements for campaigns, and ending mandatory voting. Have your say.
Illiterate, but formal: small miracle of democracy blooms in FNQ
In Queensland’s election, somehow polling booths that should represent some of the country’s least literate voters returned informal vote numbers that were among the country’s lowest. What’s going on?
Essential Report: what if Turnbull joined the ALP?
Some interesting questions in the latest Essential Report, says Possum. Like how close together people perceive Australia’s two political parties to be — and whether people would care if Malcolm Turnbull swung left.
Should 16-year-olds vote?
Should 16- and 17-year-olds vote? The recommendation could be made in the Rudd government’s second electoral green paper later this year. Senior Liberals are sceptical.
Irish opt for paper ballots over e-voting
Chalk one up for AEC-style old skool pen-and-paper voting: Ireland are scrapping their e-voting system and going back to paper ballots.
