Canadian Federal Election is October 19, 2015 - are you going to vote, and do you think voting should me mandatory in Canada. It's compulsory for all eligible Australian citizens..
Canadian Federal Election October 19, 2015
- Thread starter B00Mer
- Start date
Big problem with that is that most people are political morons and what we will get is more moronic politics. Democracy is said to be tyranny by the majority so guess what you can expect if everybody votes - more of the same nonsense you have now, only more of it. What we need more than mandatory voting is to abolish the party system and corporate lobbying.
Well I wonder if people know where the nearest polls are?
Elections Canada Online - Home Page
Personally, if Harper wins great, but I honestly don't think much changes in Canada regardless who is in power.. same BS, just a different CEO.
Elections Canada Online - Home Page
Personally, if Harper wins great, but I honestly don't think much changes in Canada regardless who is in power.. same BS, just a different CEO.
I was told the polling offices may change in some of the districts that were messed with.. North Calgary??
I always voted in Airdrie, first timer in the big city.
If I make it.. I may be overseas in Europe at that time..
Hope they have early voting in Canada.Voted in the USA, this will be only #3 in Canada.. a newbie in my own country in many ways.
If you were answering the above post.....you're in the wrong thread...:lol:
http://forums.canadiancontent.net/international-politics/125013-how-does-australia-s-voting.html
I'll just copy what I said above:
"Well I have spoken to a few people here over the last couple of years and while it seems a bit close to even, there seems to be a slight more people here who are opposed to mandatory voting, which I personally agree.
A democracy isn't a democracy when you're forced to vote in a democracy especially when none of the options thrown in your face match any of your own preferences. In a free society you should have the freedom to not voice yourself if you choose to do so.
The other problem I have is that if I did want to make a change from the main parties that are screwing things up and I want to vote for a new party to help them get closer to changing things to what I hypothetically think is for the better, if they are in the minority, my voice cast towards them is more irrelevant than it would be in Canada's system because my vote will most likely be transferred to one of the other parties I directly oppose. If I vote for a specific person or political party, I am voicing my democratic right, but then my democratic right is taken away and given to someone else I didn't want it to go to.
In the last few elections I did vote in while in Canada, with the above system, my vote for the NDP could have been shifted to the Conservatives.... or the Liberals.... which then would have meant that they continue to run things as they always have done. With Canada's current system (which still isn't perfect) the Liberals were punished in both the elections with Dion and even worse with Iggy and Layton & the NDP, for the first time, were able to reach opposition status. How would that have gone down if the Australian system was in place?
Even if the NDP get tossed back into 3rd place in the next federal election, it at least showed the Conservatives and Liberals that the same status quo won't continue to work and their positions as being 1st & 2nd are not guaranteed. At the very least, maybe they'll step up their game and try a bit harder to focus on what the people want and have some decent platforms people can vote for.
Personally speaking, it's unfortunate that we haven't been able to see what Layton could have done as opposition leader through this whole time and I fear that the NDP's chances of remaining a viable alternative died with him. He had an identity, a character, he knew how to speak to the public and hit the targets people wanted to talk about..... Mulcair just can't pull off what Layton could..... at least not in the same way.
Secondly, the main political parties influence your vote by handing out "How to Vote" cards, which basically "suggest" who you should vote for an in what order you should vote for for their best interests. Political Attack Ads and such on the radio and TV are one thing, but handing out things instructing you how you should be voting and who you should write in what order is just wrong.
As noted above:
Many do, probably because most of these voters who are forced to go to the polls don't care & can't be bothered to think for themselves, so they just do as instructed in order to get it over with.
With such a system, the two main political parties would just trade back and forth between elections and have no real risk to worry about, thus can do whatever they hell they want with little risk to them losing their positions..... much like what has commonly happened in both Canada and the US with two main party systems, but this system seems to compound the problem even further.
I do like the "List the order of preferred candidates" they have going where you can put the party you hate the most at the very bottom, but the way this system works (to my understanding) kind of makes such a thing irrelevant."
It's not anymore of an ideal system than what Canada currently has.... and solves nothing in the long run.
From the OP's link:
After each election, the AEC will send a letter to all apparent non-voters requesting that they either provide a valid and sufficient reason for failing to vote or pay a $20 penalty.
If, within the time period specified on the notice, you fail to reply, cannot provide a valid and sufficient reason or decline to pay the $20 penalty, then the matter may be referred to a court. If the matter is dealt with in court and you are found guilty, you may be fined up to $170 plus court costs and a criminal conviction may be recorded against you.
A criminal conviction because you decided you didn't want to be a part of the democratic process or chose not to vote for any of the available choices
You'll be just as bad as murderers, drug dealers and rapists.
And that's a good system??
Political Parties and Politicians need to convince citizens to want to vote, specifically to vote for them.... they need to engage the public and get them interested. That's their job during elections.
When Politicians can just have citizens threatened with fines and criminal convictions for not voting, then they don't have to work as hard.
A democracy that has a low voter turnout isn't the fault of the people, it's the fault of the politicians for not getting people more engaged to get out and vote..... and the public shouldn't be punished for politicians' incompetence.
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It was discussed in another topic. No mandatory voting.
Myself, it is much to early to make a choice (I haven't even decided on mayor and that is this fall). I am pretty sure I won't be voting for my local Lieberal canidate though.
Soon we will know just how much support just-in really has. My bet is far less than the left hopes.