Apparent failure to vote notice
#1
BE Enthusiast
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Joined: Oct 2008
Location: Brisvegas
Posts: 460
Apparent failure to vote notice
Hmmm... I have no excuse to avoid the $50 fine for not voting in a local election. To be honest, I didn't actually know it was happening (twas a relatively quiet affair...)
'No further action will be taken if you have an acceptable reason'
should I suck it up and pay more attention next time? Or can anyone come up with an excuse to get me off the hook?? I've ruled out death & serious illness...
'No further action will be taken if you have an acceptable reason'
should I suck it up and pay more attention next time? Or can anyone come up with an excuse to get me off the hook?? I've ruled out death & serious illness...
#3
Re: Apparent failure to vote notice
General principle is to make it time consuming, hassle, and expense to say that you don't have a valid excuse - they are more likely to just drop it then. Either way, make it cost them more than $50 for the trouble
#4
Re: Apparent failure to vote notice
Hmmm... I have no excuse to avoid the $50 fine for not voting in a local election. To be honest, I didn't actually know it was happening (twas a relatively quiet affair...)
'No further action will be taken if you have an acceptable reason'
should I suck it up and pay more attention next time? Or can anyone come up with an excuse to get me off the hook?? I've ruled out death & serious illness...
'No further action will be taken if you have an acceptable reason'
should I suck it up and pay more attention next time? Or can anyone come up with an excuse to get me off the hook?? I've ruled out death & serious illness...
#5
Banned
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 3,300
Re: Apparent failure to vote notice
Yes - is it possible to simply say "I never knew"? Or do they invoke a sort of "ignorance is no excuse" rule? Being out of the area wouldn't work would it - would they not just say use postal vote?
#8
Banned
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 3,300
Re: Apparent failure to vote notice
Voting is not compulsory in Australia, but attending a polling station and looking like you are voting is. I don't agree with compulsory voting, but turning up isn't that much of a hassle in the grand scheme of things.
#9
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Joined: Oct 2008
Location: Brisvegas
Posts: 460
Re: Apparent failure to vote notice
Cheers for the replies. Even tho the ink was still wet from my citizenship ceremony certificate, i thought that the local ones weren't compulsory. I didn't get any information re: voting - but still no excuse as hubby popped in to vote on the off chance....basically I couldn't be @rsed and now I've been caught out
I think I'll send an elaborate letter asking them to explain in detail my obligations, say i travel a lot for work and ask if I could be considered for postal voting in the future due to my itinerant lifestyle
I think I'll send an elaborate letter asking them to explain in detail my obligations, say i travel a lot for work and ask if I could be considered for postal voting in the future due to my itinerant lifestyle
#10
Re: Apparent failure to vote notice
I wonder what would happen if you refused to vote and refused to pay the fine?
#11
Re: Apparent failure to vote notice
I wouldn't mind the compulsory voting if you could vote "none of the above" and if that won the candidates were banned from standing for the next 5 years.
#12
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Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 3,300
Re: Apparent failure to vote notice
+1. Apparently there are an enormous number of spoiled ballot papers covered in all kinds of crap because of the % of people who just wouldn't vote anywhere else being forced to here. You don't have to tick a specific box. You could tick all of them, for example, and your vote is not counted.
#13
Re: Apparent failure to vote notice
How can a democracy force you to do something?
all politicians are tools, is there a none of the above option?
all politicians are tools, is there a none of the above option?
#14
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Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 3,300
Re: Apparent failure to vote notice
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compulsory_voting
groovy map there are quite a few countries that have some degree of compulsory voting. Within Australia it gets more complicated again as different states have different laws deciding what elections have compulsory voting and so on.
Last edited by Zen10; Aug 24th 2012 at 3:19 am.
#15
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Re: Apparent failure to vote notice
It was started back in the 20s. Not sure why. According to this
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compulsory_voting
groovy map there are quite a few countries that have some degree of compulsory voting. Within Australia it gets more complicated again as different states have different laws deciding what elections have compulsory voting and so on.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compulsory_voting
groovy map there are quite a few countries that have some degree of compulsory voting. Within Australia it gets more complicated again as different states have different laws deciding what elections have compulsory voting and so on.