You Aussies, Is this true?

rekless

I met some friends from Austrailia and we were talking politics. They said that everybody in Austrailia had to vote. If you did not vote you are fined. If this is true then how do the JWs handle it. This person said the witness always complained when she had to leave work and go vote. It's good to be back on the net after moving. Thanks and good day.

Rick Aust

Yes it is true. If we not vote we can a fine of $50. What the JW's do, is they write a "standard" letter that explains that as "Ministers of religion bah..bah... we refuse to vote bah...bah..." and thanks to the court case's won by the WTS in the USA in the 50's, our goverment accepts this reason. There have being times when some Councils ( City Halls) refuse this reason and send out fines, but in this case what the Bro's do is to tell their local elders who then inform Sydney Bethal and who then come down like a ton of bricks with all their legal boys and they sort it out, but in 20 years as a JW I've only seen this needed to be done once. Of course the WTS is only looking after their own interest, they ccouldn't give a stuff about the individual.

regards Rick

Valis

rekless you old bastard! Nice to see you my friend! I hope you and the lovely desert flower are well. BTW are we on lamb?

Sincerely,

Dsitrict Overbeer

seeitallclearlynow

rekless, I don't know about voting in Australia, but it is good to have you back after moving. Hope you're here more now.

seeitallclearlynow

http://www.australianpolitics.com/voting/systems/compulsory.shtml - This site talks about a lot of the particulars of the compulsory by law voting requirements in Australia. Interesting idea!

why144000

Technically it is not compulsory to vote in Australia. It IS compulsory to attend the polling booth and have your name off the list. After that you can choose to complete the voting form or, do as I do, leave it blank.

johnny_was_good

The same thing can be said for Belgium. We also have to go to the polling station.

ozziepost

It's interesting (well, it is for me anyway!!!) to conjecture as to which one, the USA or Australia is the real democracy? In the USA, as I understand it, you have freeedom to vote or not, but in Oz you are compelled to attend a voting station.

Is Oz a real democracy, or is the USA?

Just my musings.

Cheers, Ozzie

fairy

witnesses here in australia can vote if they want - its up to their conscience and if they dont want to vote, they give a good reason as mentioned in a previous post

Purple

Well not quite true. It is illegal to not be registered to vote and not get your name crossed off the electorial list at election time. Whether you fill out the ballot papers or not is irrelevant. So it is a law just as road rules are. Yet we follow road rules and all the other laws laid down. I felt it a pointless thing and in the end just went and got my name crossed off as getting your name crossed off a list is not voting. Yet another example of the hypocrasy and pointlessness of dubdom.

You Aussies, Is this true?

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