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4 signatures so far! Petition created by: Jeffry Brown It could be argued that the Australian position requiring citizens to enrol to vote and physically cast a ballot in all elections at all levels of Government is undemocratic, an abuse of political power and in its worst cases a form of ballot stuffing. It can also be argued that politicians in Australia base their campaigns and indeed their performance in office on mathematical equations that tell them how to manipulate, with the least intellectual, financial and physical expense the body of voters who if given the choice would not vote at all. As opposed to promulgating vision, innovative policy and standards of service in Government that would inspire citizens to vote by choice. This then is a petition in support of a referendum to decide the issue either in favour of, or against compulsory voting in Australian Local, State and Federal Government Elections. Sign the petition! Details, Impact and Progress Anyone who has voted in Australia for the different levels of Government would probably have thought to themselves at some stage, "I really don't want to vote for any of these people, so I'll vote for the one that does the least damage". Also, we've all heard the political weasel words from all sides of politics "Don't complain about the Government if you don't vote". Let's consider these issues separately, 1) Being forced to choose a candidate, "who'll do the least damage", is akin to being forced to choose the colour of your new sedan when you really aren't convinced you even need a new car. It's that simple, we have effectively given a bunch of car salesman the legal authority to force us, under threat of prosecution, to buy a new car every time they say so. 2) The political weasel words, "Don't complain about the Government if you don't vote", are the most infantile, patronising and downright offensive words that a politician can utter. If you take these words, along with the broader principle that these politicians think they are alluding to and think about it for a moment the answer leaps out at you. And the simple answer is, "No, I pay tax, I obey laws, I may or may not involve myself in community groups of my choice, I may or may not volunteer for service in military or civil organisations of my choice and in point of fact it is these things among others that form my participation in society that oblige you to make me happy. My vote, in a real democracy, is the one thing I have at my disposal to mark your work and legislating to force me to give a pass to the least obvious failure in fact deprives me of my only fundamental right to and means of complaint!" Politicians should learn that using Occam’s razor does not have to result in a lobotomy and to think before they speak, even though this would lead to some incredibly long silences. Comments Note: This service is provided as a service to TakingITGlobal Members. This petition does not necessarily represent the views of TakingITGlobal as an organization. |
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