So what happens when you don't vote in Australia?

icer101

Hello all,

This is my first post, and to be honest, the main reason why I signed up here was to ask this very question:

"What happens when a Jehova's Witness doesn't vote in Australia? Do they get fined? Or is there a way around it? If so, what exactly is it?"

You see, I am in a fix... I don't believe in the system to deem it credible for it to be voted for. As I am not a Jehova's Witness, but have learnt that they too abstain from voting, I thought I could learn what the process is?

I appreciate all helpful replies, from now :D

icer

blondie

What happens if I do not vote?

Initially the Australian Electoral Commission will write to all apparent non-voters requesting that they either provide a reason for their failure to vote or pay a $20 penalty.

If, within 21 days, the apparent non-voter fails to reply, cannot provide a valid and sufficient reason or declines to pay the penalty, then prosecution proceedings may be instigated. If the matter is dealt with in court and the person is found guilty, he or she may be fined up to $50 plus court costs.

http://www.aec.gov.au/faqs/voting_australia.htm

icer101

Thank you for your swift reply blondie :D

So then there is absolutely no way around not voting, other than paying the fine associated with it?

I would have thought that there would be some sort of leniency towards people that did not vote based on religious conviction/doctrine.

No offence blondie, however, I would prefer an Australian that lives in Australia, that is in this situation to answer. Unless of course you absolutely know for certain that this is the case, and that there are no round-about ways around this dilemma?

In all honesty, I thought there was a kind of amnesty for people in such a scenario...

icer

blondie

"provide a reason for their failure to vote"

If you look at the website I posted, it is the Australian Electoral Commission, from them not me....so it is from an Australian, an Australian agency best qualified to give an answer.

choosing life

If you go to the link that Blondie provided, it says that religious objections are a valid reason not to vote.

TheOldHippie

Point 31 of Backgrounder no. 17 states that religious reasons are valid ones.

icer101

The only part I saw that had the words religious in it was the following:

What is a general postal voter, and how do I register as one?

An elector who is registered as General Postal Voter will automatically be sent ballot papers as soon as practicable following the declaration of nominations for a federal election, or the issue of writ for a federal referendum.

An eligible elector only has to fill in a General Postal Vote application form once. Electors do not have to reapply. This is where a General Postal Vote application form differs from a Postal Vote Application. A Postal Vote Application is made available by the AEC on the announcement of an election and is only intended to be used for that electoral event.

An elector can apply to be registered as a General Postal Voter if they:

live more than 20 kilometres from a polling place, including a place where mobile polling will be conducted;
are a patient at a hospital or nursing home where polling will not take place, and because of serious illness or infirmity is unable to travel to a polling place
are not in hospital but, due to serious illness or infirmity, are unable to travel from their home to a polling place;
cannot travel to a polling place because they are caring for a person who is seriously ill or infirm;
are detained in custody in prison or on remand awaiting trial;
are registered as a silent elector; or
are an elector whose religious beliefs, or membership of a religious order, preclude them from attending a polling place for all or most of the hours of polling.

I couldn't find anywhere where it says that one is absolved from voting due to their beliefs, etc... In the above statement, it seems that the matter is that one can apply to vote via the post, if one falls under any of the categories listed below it. This includes people that are unable to attend due to their religious convictions, that may coincide during the day that elections are held.

Also blondie, I apologise if I sounded negative with my comment regarding non-Australians. I have no ill-feelings towards anyone in this thread, at all.

It is just that I have had experiences in the past where people that are not qualified to give statements, base their comments on hearsay/comments only heard, and not verified, that have landed me in undesirable situations. For this reason, I am being pedantic about the source I gather my information from.

Having said that, I agree that the site would have been put up by Australians, as it is an Australian Government website. However, the more intricate details are what I am after, rather just plain quoting what is directly apparent. Sometimes things are not put out in the open for all to see, as for in this instance, it would in the interest of the Australian governing system, that everybody votes. However, by knowing which proverbial knobs to turn, and buttons to push, there may be a way to bypass voting, in Australia.

This is the information that I am after.

Whilst working for a company in the past, they had a product which was not advertised anywhere, yet they still had it. This product was only ever mentioned if the customer utterred certain trigger words. Otherwise, no one would be the wiser about it being available.

I hope you have a clearer understanding of why I stated what I did. Again, I appreciate your efforts in trying to get me my answer.

Warm Regards,

icer.

blondie

Electoral Backgrounder No. 17

31. Under subsection 245(14) of the Act the fact

that an elector believes it to be a part of his

or her religious duty to abstain from voting

constitutes a valid and sufficient reason for

not voting.

www.aec.gov.au/pdf/.../17/EB_17_Compulsory_Voting.pdf

This is what OldHippie brought up...just a little googling and I found it.

Broken Promises

Hi,

As I am an Australian who frequently received “failure to vote” notices, perhaps I’ll chime in….

Yes, when you receive the “failure to vote” notice in the mail, there is a space where you can explain your reason for not voting.

You just state that as a Jehovah’s Witness, it is against your religious conscience to vote for a govt run by man, not God. You can then include a scripture as well, if you want to be super spiritual.

Frankly, I don’t know why you don’t want to vote, as it’s a privilege that we have in this democratic country we live in. And all to avoid a $20 fine???

As JWs, never had the option to vote, so I appreciate the freedom I have now. Not to mention that only 100 years ago, women still couldn’t vote!!

icer101

So you see blondie, it was not as clear cut as what you had initially posted.

Rather, there is way to not vote, 'with a valid and sufficient reason', and not be fined ;)

I honestly thought that there was no way around not getting fined. Glad to be corrected on this one.

I appreciate the trouble you and TheOldHippie went through to help me get the answer I was looking for.

Thank you both :D

As for being against voting?

I am not against voting so much as being against man made laws, that transgress God's Laws.

Voting is only a means to an end. At least, that is how I view it.

As for paying the $20, that also is not an issue in and of itself.

The money that I give, is in effect supporting a system my belief is against.

Oh, and I am not a Jehovah's Witness either

Thank you everyone for your time and effort in providing me the much appreciated help you have given.

Warmest Regards,

icer

So what happens when you don't vote in Australia?

What happens if I do not vote?

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