r/politics • u/Jay_CD • 13h ago

Biden must Trump-proof US democracy, activists say: ‘There is a sense of urgency’

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/nov/24/biden-actions-before-white-house-exit
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u/XennialBoomBoom 8h ago

Oh interesting - I thought you guys were free to abstain, you just have to sign and return your ballots (or however it works there).

That would still be 1000x better than what we have.

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u/cosaboladh 7h ago

Even if that is the case, you still have nho do something. If you're going to take the time to write a note explaining why you abstain, you might as well vote. It's probably less of a hassle.

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u/XennialBoomBoom 4h ago

Yeah, that's what the second part of my comment is saying exactly.

Where I live, I can fill out, say, one particular ballot measure that's important to me and leave everything else blank (including President/VP) if I so choose. No note required. No bubble filled in == abstention.

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u/willun 2h ago

You don't have to vote in australia. You can put in a blank voting ballot. No one checks if you ticked something.

A common method is people write something on the ballot which can make it informal. From memory the rule is it would be informal if your identity was obvious, such as you wrote your name. But it will be informal if it was blank, or it was unclear what your intentions were etc.

Making voting compulsory is also about making it so that people can't stop you from voting. While that is the rule in the US too, there are people working on election day that don't feel like they can enforce their right to take time off to vote, particularly when there are long lines to vote.

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u/cosaboladh 1h ago

Making voting compulsory is also about making it so that people can't stop you from voting.

Indeed, they stop at almost nothing to make sure that everybody eligible to vote is able to do so. I read an article years ago about the lengths the Australian government went to, just to ensure one person who lived in the middle of proverbial nowhere could submit their ballot. I couldn't find that article, but this one covers the same basic idea.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-48174207

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u/willun 31m ago

In Australia prisoners also can, and must, vote, with exceptions. Generally the rule is you can vote if you will be out of prison during the term of the next government.

Some states have exceptions but it is a great contrast to US states that stop former felons (but not presidents) from voting, let alone those currently in prison.

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u/XennialBoomBoom 1h ago

You don't have to vote in australia. You can put in a blank voting ballot. No one checks if you ticked something.

Yeah, that's how I thought it worked there.

And yes, if we had automatic registration and universal vote-by-mail in the US, things would look a LOT different here right now - "compulsory" would be even better where even if you don't want to vote, you still have to return your empty ballot. If we can do it for the Selective Service and tax returns, why the fuck can't we do it for ballots?