Winter 2004 Issue No 3 - a guide to sending a message when attending the roll call at election time.
In
Australia we have a compulsory roll call when an election is called;
NOT compulsory voting as the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC)
keeps calling it. Once your name is crossed off, you can do what you
like with the ballot paper. Many people proclaim they are opposed to
compulsory voting and it is uncertain whether they are opposed to the
roll call, or opposed to the (erroneous) notion that they are being
forced to vote. ...
The danger of not having a roll call is that
highly organised groups, particularly when concentrated in an
electorate, will all turn up and foist their candidate on to an
unsuspecting electorate. ...
So do your duty and do not hand over
hard earned cash as fines to the authorities. If you totally and
inexorably opposed to compulsory voting, write that on the ballot paper
and put it in the box. ... Any spoilt ballot paper will do if you are
opposed to political parties being paid per vote. But you can also
achieve that by voting for candidates who are unlikely to achieve the
qualifying 4%.
How to make the most of your vote
The
Independent Australian finds the major parties so similar, one half
empty, the other half full, that we urge you to put them last. Look
carefully at the independents first and then the minor parties. ... a
strong first preference independent vote makes the major parties look
carefully at the situation. Was the candidate on a single issue
platform? ... Or was it an expression of general dissatisfaction? The
same applies to the minor parties, but have a good look before giving
them first preference. ... Finally you decide between the major parties
and put them in the order of Lesser Evil and Greater Evil as you see it
fit. Not always an easy choice.
But what about the Senate? If you
have the patience then you should number all boxes, following the
precepts above. This is tedious and confusing; so easy to mix up the
numbers. The AEC offers you the choice to vote ‘above the line’, giving
a party 1 and letting the party bosses allocate unused transfers as
they see fit, usually on the basis of a preference deal. Most voters
have no idea where the transfers finish up. The solution is for the ballot paper to list all the parties above
the line, so you can choose where your party preferences go. Ungrouped
would be treated as a party and their votes could be allocated equally
to all the candidates in that category.
And now for something completely different
None Of The Above
The
last spot on the ballot paper should be reserved for None of the Above
with a box in which you can mark a vote, ensuring no fiddling with a
blank ballot paper. This enables one to express general dissatisfaction
or to protest against the candidate that your party has selected. In
the absence of an ability to directly protest via None of the Above it
is instructive to look at the informals in 2004 in seats where there
might have been some dissatisfaction with the candidates.
In NSW the
average informal was 6.1%. There was no redistribution to confuse the
issue and there were three seats, one Coalition, two ALP, where
candidates were controversial. These were:
• Parramatta, where
Ross Cameron (Liberal), who proclaimed Christian virtues, but confessed
to adultery, had a rise in informals from 6.2% to 8.5%.
• Kingsford
Smith, where Peter Garrett (ALP) was parachuted in over local
candidates, had a rise in informals from 6.1% to 8.1%.
•
Greenway, where Ed Husic (ALP), a Muslim, stood against Louise Markus
(Liberal), a Hillsong Christian, had a rise in informals from 5% to
11.8%. In this case both major party candidates were controversial.
None of the Above would have scored highly in those electorates.
(None of the Above appeared in Issue 4, Spring 2004.)