Comment on ABC 2025 Election Watch Party
Zagorath@aussie.zone 3 weeks agoTop of the list, ‘soft mandatory’ voting
Absolutely not. Mandatory voting is great, but the number one two and three thing is voting system reform. They had an IRV referendum a few years back and it failed. Maybe they could take MMP to the people in the future and get more support, and leapfrog is into having an even better system.
But with the rise of Reform over there, I’m not sure they’d want to risk giving smaller parties a path to electoral success.
Gorgritch_umie_killa@aussie.zone 3 weeks ago
Na, you need to get the people to the booths, otherwise your always pumping for turnout each election cycle.
Without mandatory voting a dissafected electorate will be more likely to not vote as their message to the politicians in a given election, than send a message by voting. In those circumstances, which the UK is finding itself in a lot! (Brexit included here.) You need to demand the populace make their voices heard.
There is a practical reason, MMP, IRV, whatever you choose are far more complicated to explain than, ‘you must vote, or i’ll hit you over the head with some parsley.’ Mandatory voting is simple to understand, and demands voters become more engaged, which would help with further reform.
Smaller parties have to have a path to success, a party of Government needs to be theoretically possible for them all. Genuine electoral reform would need to account for that, otherwise they’d fail to live up to the demands of democratic governance. But this is why I say as an unpopular technocrat, Starmer could be in a rare position here.
Zagorath@aussie.zone 3 weeks ago
Under FPTP? No, they don’t. Not a realistic one, anyway.
Gorgritch_umie_killa@aussie.zone 3 weeks ago
Yeah, agreed. I’s not defending their current system. I’s arguing for political bias to be taken out of a theoretical election reform process as much as possible.
gedhrel@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Choice-ranking systems aren’t hard to explain: “put these people in the order you prefer them”.
The anti-AV campaign had Cameron reading out an algorithm for the vote counting process in a dull voice and trying to establish: “yes well I went to Eton and although I am very clever I find this difficult”. The AV referendum failed in large part because it was a LibDem thing and people wanted to give Clegg a shoeing for going back on his election pledges. (That Clegg got outplayed by Cameron tells you everything you need to know about what a useless chancer he is.)
Gorgritch_umie_killa@aussie.zone 3 weeks ago
Well, put it this way, whats harder?
Everybody of voting age has to vote.
Or (for example),
Number the candidates in order of most preferred. (Ranked Choice)
I think the first one is simpler to communicate than the second, and in an electoral reform decision like this simplicity of communication is very important.
But thats my point, not that IRV or MMP, et al, are uniquely hard or complicated to understand.
gedhrel@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
A solution to “people feel disempowered” isn’t “force them to express an opinion”. If turnout is low then give the lie to “my vote doesn’t matter”.