Well.. today is the day. It has been a while since I've done my civic duty as a citizen of Australia. After living overseas for a certain period of time, you are removed from the electoral rolls and are not able to vote anymore. And as an Australian, not voting is a very very strange experience. We have compulsory voting here, where everyone is obliged to at least show up and collect their ballot papers once every three years.
Personally, I don't think that that is too much of an ask, to have a little bit of a say in the future direction of the country... instead of doing nothing, and just complaining. Of course, just by voting, it doesn't mean that things will go the way that you would ideally like... but at least participating in the process is sort of important.
Of course, there are people from other countries who find the concept of compulsory ANYTHING to be distasteful.... and I guess I should clear up some misconceptions for those who are more likely to go off on a terror-filled rant without any connection to reality.
Firstly, you only have to collect the ballot papers... by post, digitally or whatever... or in person at one of the many many physical stations... most of them are schools, and they will also take the chance to have a sausage sizzle and a fete to sell food and crafts to help support the school fundraisers.
After you collect your papers (physical or otherwise), you can do whatever the hell you want with them.... draw pictures, use it as toilet papers, eat them.... or if you feel the urge, cast a vote for your vision of the future... or more commonly now, cast a vote for the party that scared you the least... or offered you the most money.
Anyway, this year, the Australian Electoral Commission was putting out a call out for people to work the stations. I was sorely tempted... but I am a little busier than expected this weekend, so I think I will have to wait for the next time. I really want to try and experience being part of this great democratic process...
... now, after all of that... don't get me wrong. I see many things that I don't like about the way Australia has evolved with government power and how the direction of society has progressed. It feels like a very different Australia compared to the one that I left... much of that has a lot to do with me changing... but I also feel like we have collected a lot of the worst ideals of our "freedom-loving" friends in America. The wealth gap is growing, people are more money and self obsessed and less concerned about helping each other, we have lost sight of mateship... a common good, and now it is the cult of personal achievement. That sort of crap can go back to where it came from...
Anyway, the process of is quite quaint and archaic... we head down to the local polling booth (generally a school) and we have our names ticked off a giant paper roll. The roll has the listing of all the names of citizens and the places that they live at. No need for ID, just you name and address... and then you are asked if you have already voted today... then then you are given your ballet papers. In the last election there were roughly 200 anomalies in voting, and those were mostly found to be errors in marking off the roll, and not deliberate attempts at fraud.
... so, weirdly old-fashioned, but it works well!
... and of course, the mandatory reward for voting! The good old Australian snag on a piece of bread! It is quite hilarious, part of the choice of where you will go to put in your vote will also have to take into consideration who has the best cake stall or sausage sizzle! Now my youngest daughter is quite confused about what voting is all about... I told her it was to choose who would lead the nation for the next few years... but she doesn't quite know how the hot dog fits into all of that. After our parents-in-law came back from voting... the first question was, did you get your hot dog? Where is it?
Lol... bugger cryptographic signatures for voting, hot dogs are the only immutable proof that you need!
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