A test when you’re 18 that lasts the rest of your life? […]
Good criticism, I didn’t think that part through. Once every 3 or 4 years is probably to often. Somewhere in the middle would be ideal.
And the bottom line is that many people will just be in a hurry, stressed or tired. But I hope that this kind of thing would improve instinct and build habits that would reduce the impact of those inevitable factors.
And what happens if they can’t pass? Are they barred from voting?
Try again until they pass. Not registered until they pass. The test allows all the assistance that one would receive in a polling centre.
What’s the point of letting someone in the polling booth if they can’t fill out the ballot in ideal conditions? It’s not empowering them, it’s just compromising the democratic process.
That’s risky for both the reason of discrimination
I claim that if someone is unable to pass this test, their vote wouldn’t have counted anyway. It’s only as discriminatory as the election itself is.
Unless these people literally didn’t make it to year 6
That, and plenty of other edge cases too. There are a surprising amount of people who made it through school and remained illiterate or innumerate (I can’t easily find stats).
That doesn’t mean they will […] always want to.
It’s perfectly valid to nullify your vote. What disturbs me is how many people seem to unintentionally cast an invalid vote despite wanting to vote. It points me to suspect a systematic issue beyond just apathy.
Robust_Mirror@aussie.zone 3 days ago
No discrimination in these cases is based on failing people that should be passing or failing based on higher standards than you’re applying broadly. Not registered until you pass leads to the other issue I said, people intentionally failing to never have to vote. I personally believe being forced to at least turn up at the polling centre makes a significant difference to the final vote. I would rather some small percentage of votes end up not counted as unreadable than 40%+ of the population opt out of voting.
eureka@aussie.zone 2 days ago
There’s an interesting discussion about whether forcing people who don’t want to vote into voting is a good thing.
I definitely think our mandatory voting system has some great benefits, especially that it makes voter suppression far more difficult. But at the end if the day, I’ve seen electors who couldn’t name two federal PM candidates or the party policies of the two main parties. What is the benefit of forcing such people into voting? They clearly don’t have an interest in making the correct decision for themselves or our state. So it simply makes the election less effective, turning it more into a gimmicky popularity spectacle than a decision making process.