A How-To Website For Australian Voters 158
Twisted64 writes "If you're interested in voting below the line in the upcoming federal election in Australia, but don't want to waste time in the booth individually ranking up to 76 candidates (for the unfortunates in New South Wales), then Cameron McCormack's website may have what you need. The website allows voters to set their preferences beforehand, dragging and dropping Stephen Conroy at the bottom of the barrel and thrusting the Sex Party into pole position (as an utterly random example). Once preferences are set, the site can generate a PDF to be printed and taken to the booth." (More, below.)
"There's also something to educate the above-the-line voters — if you check the box for your single party of choice, the site will fill out the effective party preferences below the line. This shows that a vote for The Climate Sceptics hands first preferences to Family First, and so on.
The website claims not to harvest voting information, but for the paranoid it recommends printing out a blank ballot sheet and copying your preferences from the screen. There is also a button to set up a donkey vote when in the ballot view, in case you have trouble counting from 1 to 100."
Slashdotted (Score:5, Informative)
Re:It's actually 84 (Score:1, Informative)
It does do that.
This is why we have above/below the line voting. If you want to select only one, then you can do that. If you want to preference, then you can do that also.
I think preference voting is a very good compromise, but the voters need to be educated in it, rather than following blindly. Also, they need to know that if you make a mistake you can get a new ballot paper, and you can keep getting them until you are satisfied with your vote.
It is also good because you can protest vote without your vote being totally invalid. For example if you are Labor (but not entirely satisfied), you can have as first preference as an independent, and then vote labor. This way, you don't have to vote either/or, or spoil your vote, but you can vote for someone who represents your views while still identifying that you prefer Labor over the fundies.
FWIW, I think Tasmania has the best voting system of all states.
Re:Slashdotted (Score:3, Informative)
Just to be clear (Score:4, Informative)
Non Australian voters might be confused by this article because it gives the impression that you need a HOWTO to be able to vote. But thats not true. Just give people you don't like high numbers, and people you do like low numbers. Its still pretty simple.
You can tell from my sig. Labour candidates are getting high numbers from me in the senate this year.
Another Below the Line helper (Score:2, Informative)
Actually here's one that actually scales:
https://www.belowtheline.org.au/
link appears borked (Score:1, Informative)
The link to the belowtheline website appears to be borked in the article.
A quick Google, finds https://www.belowtheline.org.au/ [belowtheline.org.au] however.
Google Docs Party Comparison (Score:2, Informative)
The following document is a summary of the parties and their positions on various subjects. Publically modifiable, so if you can contribute, please do.
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AgwGFHFd0TUIdExCbkNZWllUaVRsRG9yZXVVTXhUN0E&hl=en&authkey=CJu2lp8P#gid=0
Re:It's actually 84 (Score:5, Informative)
The problem with "donkey votes" is that politicians waste time arguing about who gets the top slot
They don't. The position on the ballot paper is drawn by lot.
The real problem with donkey votes is that the people casting them are negligent in fulfilling their public duty to vote.
Re:Just to be clear (Score:1, Informative)
Re:It's actually 84 (Score:2, Informative)
If you don't like having to vote then you shouldn't enroll.
Nice try, but every person who is entitled to have his or her name placed on the Roll ... and whose name is not on the Roll upon the expiration of 21 days from the date upon which the person became so entitled ... shall be guilty of an offence ... [austlii.edu.au].
I never enrolled, didn't vote in the last 3 or 4 elections
You're probably safe here, but in general I would advise you not to brag too much about your criminal activities on public internet fora. ;)
Re:It's actually 84 (Score:3, Informative)
You don't even have to cast a ballot at all.
You do in fact! [austlii.edu.au]
I have refused to even take the ballot papers on more than one occasion. When the ballot papers are offered, I simply inform the scutineers that I have fulfilled my obligation merely by having my name crossed off the electoral roll - and walk out. They don't like it, but there's nothing they can do about it.
Sure there something they could do about it. They could put you on trial for a criminal breach of s245 of the C'th Electoral Act, or (more likely) they could fine you for the same. In reality they can't be bothered to do anything about it.
It's an open secret that, s245(6) notwithstanding, they rarely bother perusing anyone who simply ignores the fine.
Re:It's actually 84 (Score:1, Informative)
They don't like it, but there's nothing they can do about it.
Having worked as a polling official on many occasions I can safely say that we/they don't care in the slightest whether you throw your vote away. In fact having strong opinions about political matters is actively discouraged among the AEC's temp workers, for pretty obvious reasons.
Re:It's actually 84 (Score:4, Informative)
Technically, no. You're attendance confirms your intention to vote, and fulfils your obligations.
Where you people get this stuff from?! IAAL, so since we are talking matters of electoral law, 'technically' to me means you show me an Act of parliament of a curial decision rather than just making this stuff up. Allow me to demonstrate.
Technically, you can't be marked off the electoral role until after you receive your ballot. (C'th Electoral Act 1918, s232(1)) [austlii.edu.au].
OR thus: Once you get your ballot paper you are required "without delay" to "retire alone to some unoccupied compartment of the booth, and there, in private, mark his or her vote on the ballot paper" (s233) [austlii.edu.au] [my emphasis]
So technically you must enrol, attend, collect your ballot, be marked off, and vote. Turning up and having your name marked off without collecting a ballot, spoiling your ballot, and all these other suggestions are technically illegal.
Re:So why isn't it an officiel site? (Score:5, Informative)
Voting Above and Below the line (Score:3, Informative)
A wise person votes both above and below the line. If you do that and stuff your below the line vote up then your above the line vote gets used instead.
See http://blogs.abc.net.au/antonygreen/2010/07/how-to-vote-guide.html [abc.net.au], in the last section titled What happens if I vote both above and below the line? .
Re:It's actually 84 (Score:3, Informative)
Do you have to mark all 84 boxes though?
Here in Scotland we used STV [wikipedia.org] in our most recent local council elections, which is basically preference voting with multi-member wards. Although we were able to number all the candidates 1-n, we were under no obligation to do so - if you only wanted to vote for one candidate you could just put a 1 by their name and it would still be counted.
I only marked two candidates, because they were the only two (out of the eight or so on the list) that I had actually heard of.
Re:It's actually 84 (Score:3, Informative)
Yes, you have to number them all, but I think with 84 candidates, they allow for one or two minor errors (e.g. having two people ranked 25 or missing a number).
If you only mark two candidates, your vote will be thrown out completely.