Current Events > Voter turnout is always very high in my country and I ponder on why that is.

(+) Yeah! (+)

It is around 85% almost every time and I think the following reasons might be why:

* Elections are always on a Sunday which mean that the vast majority don't have to take time off from work to vote. It is also very easy to vote in advance.

* All legal citizens aged 18 and up are automatically registered to vote and get their ballot paper and voting info in the mail well ahead of time before the election. You need ID or a driver's license when you vote btw.

* Voting stations are always close and there are many of them which mean that you usually don't have to wait in line long. I've lived in several neighbourhoods in 3 different cities in 3 different regions and my voting station has never been further away than a 5-10 minute walk.

* We have several different political parties (currently 8 in Parliament) so many can find a choice they agree with on several issues. The threshhold for entering/staying in Parliament is 4.0% of the votes. And the fact that smaller parties do get a say in things, since the bigger parties usually don't get a majority on their own, further encourage people to go vote in the next election.
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BalanceLost posted...

You need ID or a driver's license when you vote btw.

Those
FUCKING
MONSTERS
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IIRC Australia penalizes those who don't vote :3
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D-Lo_BrownTown posted...

BalanceLost posted...

You need ID or a driver's license when you vote btw.

Those
FUCKING
MONSTERS

There's nothing inherently wrong with voter ID laws, it's just when you pair it with other discriminatory practices like closing DMVs in black neighbourhoods as a "cost-saving measure" does it become an issue.

I kind of want to know how to improve voter turnout too. Canada has had pretty poor voter turnout. It was higher in 2015 than 2011, but it was still only 68%.
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D-Lo_BrownTown posted...

BalanceLost posted...

You need ID or a driver's license when you vote btw.

Those
FUCKING
MONSTERS

Not needing ID is weird imo but I've heard it is a big debate in the US about it?


M_Live posted...

BalanceLost posted...

All legal citizens aged 18 and up are automatically registered to vote and get their ballot paper and voting info in the mail well ahead of time before the election.

Tbh I never understood why in the United States you had to register to vote, it should work the same exact way as what you describe, with all the emphasis we place on voting here. It sure as hell would get a lot more people to do so.

Yeah, I think it should be a standard procedure democracies should strive for.


M_Live posted...

BalanceLost posted...

We have several different political parties (currently 8 in Parliament) so many can find a choice they agree with on several issues. The threshhold for entering/staying in Parliament is 4.0% of the votes. And the fact that smaller parties do get a say in things, since the bigger parties usually don't get a majority on their own, further encourage people to go vote in the next election.

And this would be incredible, rather than the bipartisan bullshit we have that nobody actually likes yet never actually changes.

No system is perfect but I think it sure seems to beat just having a two party system. It fosters a greater need for actual compromise and cooperation and place focus on the policies of the parties.
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M_Live posted...

And this would be incredible, rather than the bipartisan bullshit we have that nobody actually likes yet never actually changes.

We already kind of have that. Parliamentary systems tend to create coalitions of multiple parties.
If you look at Republicans, for example, we have members of the Freedom Caucus, those people who rode on the Tea Party wave, RINOs, libertarian types, etc. Similar idea with the Democrats. If you think about it, each of those segments of the party could be considered their own 'party' and the party as a whole is a coalition.
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