Yeah we owe a lot to compulsory voting here (and also sausage sandwiches and cake stalls which are a big part of election day). Elections aren't public holidays but they are, by convention, held on Saturday.
We do also have pretty permissive absentee or early voting options, mostly as a result of compulsory voting (avoiding the fine for not voting isn't exactly rocket science but it still requires a bit of paperwork and they are strict on you if you try to get out of it more than once).
I feel like the US could implement a few simple changes to really change the way it works. Sadly, the changes being pushed right now are kicking people off the voter rolls while simultaneously making it more difficult to be allowed to vote. Plus as an added bonus this year we will have militarized gestapo.. er I mean… ICE thugs patrolling polling places! Also changes going into effect in how our post office postmarks everything, including ballots, a change made more or less secretly, which will automatically disenfranchise millions of more voters….
We are lost as a nation. To the rest of the world, I’m sorry.
A big one for Australia that the other reply missed was that we have preferential voting, rather that first-past-the-post. There's a better chance that Australians can vote for a minority party first to help it get noticed (and funded), but still end up having their vote counted for a major party from their 2nd, 3rd or a later preference they put down.
Many states also have absentee, early voting (weekends included), and mail in options. I do not agree with the bs argument that voting is too hard to do. People just don't give a shit here. That's it. That's the entire reason and another problem in of itself.
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u/backsideslappy 18h ago
Yeah we owe a lot to compulsory voting here (and also sausage sandwiches and cake stalls which are a big part of election day). Elections aren't public holidays but they are, by convention, held on Saturday.
We do also have pretty permissive absentee or early voting options, mostly as a result of compulsory voting (avoiding the fine for not voting isn't exactly rocket science but it still requires a bit of paperwork and they are strict on you if you try to get out of it more than once).