I'm curious, what happens if someone in Australia doesn't vote?
I was a bit off but it's election day here today.
www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/australia-votes-how-much-is-the-fine-if-i-don%e2%80%99t-vote/ar-AAhK9ZN?li=AAgfYrC&ocid=UE07DHPAustralia is one of a few countries which enforces compulsory voting, which we’ve had in place nationally since 1924. Enrolling to vote has been compulsory since 1911, but it was low numbers of voter turnout (like the 60 per cent turnout in 1922) that provoked the switch to compulsory voting.
In 1925, one year after voting was made compulsory, the voter turnout had jumped up to 91 per cent.
According to the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC), “proponents of compulsory voting argue that voting is a civic duty comparable to other duties citizens perform, such as taxation, compulsory education and jury duty. Opponents argue that it is an infringement of liberty to force people to vote, and that the ill informed and those with little interest in politics are forced to the polls.”
What happens if I don't vote?Well, if you insist on staying home on Election day, you’re going to get a fine. If you’re eligible and enrolled, you’ll get a letter asking you where you were on election day. From here you’ll have two options:
1) Prove that you weren’t able to vote. If the AEC deems your excuse acceptable, then you’re all clear. If not, you’ll have to cough up $20.
2) Ignore the letter. If you don’t want to hand over 20 dollarydoos, it’ll become the business of a magistrate’s court. Here, you could have to pay upwards of $180. This is so much more than $20 and you’ll cry about refusing to pay the first fine.
If you aren’t even enrolled (remember, it’s compulsory), then you’re automatically up for a $180 fine. And you’ll have to go to court for it.
There’s a number of other dodgy, election-related shit you could pull, and the AEC will get you for those too.
Fraudulent enrolment or voting offences under the Act include the following:
forging any enrolment or electoral papers, maximum penalty: 10 years imprisonment (Division 144 of the Criminal Code);
unlawfully signing any enrolment or electoral papers, maximum penalty: $1 000 (section 336);
unlawfully witnessing any enrolment or electoral papers: maximum penalty: Imprisonment for 12 months (section 337);
making any false or misleading statement in any enrolment or electoral papers, maximum penalty: 12 months imprisonment (Division 136 & 137 of the Criminal Code)
If you’re feeling apathetic about the whole damn process (we get it), then think about what a privilege it is to cast your democratic vote. There are so many people who don’t even have the right, so try to be more like these impressive teenagers and toddlers, who can’t affect the polls (yet).