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Push to lower Australia's compulsory voting age to 16 as advocate says youngsters feeling 'disenfranchised' (www.abc.net.au)

submitted 7 months ago by Zagorath@aussie.zone to c/australianpolitics@aussie.zone

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[-] Zagorath@aussie.zone 2 points 7 months ago

make it mandatory

There are an average of two divisions every single day Parliament sits. And that's without counting votes that are determined on the voices. Or issues at the state and local council levels. Federally, there are about 200 Bills introduced every single year. There's not necessarily anything wrong with enabling people to vote on all of them if they want to, but making it mandatory is a ludicrous proposition. Enabling people to choose a proxy is not just a good idea, it's a necessity to do large-scale direct democracy.

[-] Deceptichum@sh.itjust.works 1 points 7 months ago

Cool, so don’t make it mandatory. I don’t really care.

What I care about is that people have a direct say in what they want to vote for. Not have to hope a representative actually represents them.

[-] Zagorath@aussie.zone 1 points 7 months ago

That's how Thor's idea works. You choose your proxy. You don't elect them without the option to change until the next election. You can switch proxies or take over directly at literally any time.

[-] Deceptichum@sh.itjust.works 0 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

I don’t want to choose a proxy, I want a direct say. The only person I want representing me, is me.

Anything less is simply lipstick on a pig.

[-] Ilandar@aussie.zone 2 points 7 months ago

I don’t want to choose a proxy

??????

You don't have to, that's the entire point of the proxy; it's for people who can't/don't want to vote on every single issue. Clearly you're not one of these people so there's no actual issue here, you're just arguing for argument's sake.