Did you vote in today’s Victorian election in Australia?
Yes I did.This is the first time I voted in this electorate.The lines were short, and I was well prepared, so I numbered my ballots quickly.No democracy sausage, and not many candidate volunteers. It was quiet. It was very unlike a metropolitan booth.It was a strange booth, a combined one for both Melton and Buninyong. Our nearest booth was actually outside the seat. But the VEC knew what they were doing and everyone found the correct roll and were given the correct ballots.Two affiliations were not apparent to me until I got to the booth. One independent was affiliated with the the Australian Country Party and the other with Hudson4NV.
What are the 6 steps in a Federal Election?
It is more of a "time-table." (in Australia anyways)
Why is voting mandatory in Australia?
In reality, the only thing mandatory is to get your name ticked off the voters register. What you do after that is up to you.Our elections are always held on a Saturday between the hours of 6.30 am to 7.30 pm, so everyone can get a chance to vote.So we all queue up, make full use of the sausage sizzles and various charities selling cakes etc. and wait for our turn. At the same time you do your best to avoid eye contact with the local incumbent who wants to talk to their electorate and the volunteers with leaflets trying to tell you how to vote.You finally get into the school/town hall/etc., and get your name ticked off, You get a couple of sheets (one of which is usually formidably large) and are pointed towards a booth. You’ve made the effort to get your name ticked off, so you may as well vote while you’re here, right?Voting booth pencil are notoriously useless so you scrabble around for a pen or steal the pencil in the next booth. So you list your parties in numerical order. You might feel compelled to add a pithy comment about the state of the government and then fold them up and shove the ballots in the appropriate box.Australians a fairly blase about the whole compulsory voting thing. Most of us know quite well that if it wasn’t compulsory, voting levels would probably be lower (participation was only about 60% in the 1920’s). I believe that the voter turnout last Federal election was around 95%.If you don’t vote and are registered to vote, you’ll get a polite letter from the Aust. Electoral Commission asking why. If you have a good excuse (i.e., in a coma) you’ll get a free pass. If not you get fined $20, or more if you have outstanding fines. If you’re not registered and should be, the AEC eventually finds you and you will end up in court and fined a quite a bit more.A large part of living in a democracy is voting and citizens should exercise their obligation to vote. After all, if you dont vote, you have no right to complain about the winner — which we do, a lot!
What is the fine for not voting in the federal election in Australia?
You will receive a letter from the AEC if, according to our records, you did not vote at the 2016 federal election. If you did vote, you should advise the AEC and provide details by the due date. If you didn’t vote, you will need to provide a valid and sufficient reason why, or pay the $20 penalty.If you do not either reply to the notice or pay the penalty by the due date, the matter may be referred to a court. There is a maximum fine of $180 (plus court costs) if the matter is dealt with by the court, and a criminal conviction may be recorded against your name.Source: Voting within Australia – Frequently Asked QuestionsAs an American I would have thought that compulsory voting would result in more success for left-leaning candidates, weeing that the younger voters in the United States tend to be more liberal, and there was a time when that may have been the case. But over time, those young voters have taken thought to the arguments put forth by all sides, and Australian Conservatives have won at least half the time. It was a lesson against making assumptions based on observations. When conditions change, those assumptions may no longer be valid. Young people may lack experience but they still have working brains.
Mandatory voting in the U.S.?
Australia requires all legally eligible citizens to vote or be fined. How would you feel about a system like that in the U.S.? For instance, if it would allow voting over a period of several days to accomodate a larger group of voters, would you go for it? If the U.S. were to adopt that system, where should the fine money be designated to go?
The detailed provisions of federal election laws are important? a.because most u.s elections are for federal o?
a.because most u.s elections are for federal office b. because they are specifically listed in the constituion c. to prevent state voter registration requirements d. to maintain honest and free electiones at all levels
How will the Australian federal election impact the AUD/USD?
Even if the final result of the AU Election is yet to be announced, a probable hung parliament have started threatening the Aussie traders, who were previously too hawkish for their economic growth and job numbers.The same was being conveyed by the S&P Global Ratings cut the outlook on Australia’s AAA credit rating to negative from stable on July 07 and some other leading rating institutes, like Moody’s and Fitch, are also awaiting the final result to punish the AU ratings.Given the final results show what the up-till now counting is favoring, a hung parliament with no party being in considerable strength, country’s economic system will have to bear the cost of it due to political differences in ways to counter the economic challenges.The AUDUSD, which bounced from 0.7150 during late May month, might fail to clear the 0.7550–60 resistance-zone and can comeback to 0.7300 re-test, followed by 0.7230 trend-line support, if the awaited result provide pessimism to AU economy.On the upside, a break above 0.7560 needs to confront with the year-long trend-line mark of 0.7755–60 before rising further, for which there are least chances at present.