You don't have to vote. You only need to get your name crossed off. You are then able to just leave if you really want.

And while those 'how to vote cards' (and their pushers) are annoying if you don't need or want them, they do help people get something close to their wishes down on the ballot.

I see it as giving everyone the responsibility to choose a representative. I don't think that's much to ask of citizens in a democracy. It's not like "forcing" a vegan to eat meat.

I like mandatory voting because it makes more people take an interest, and frankly I find it kind of undemocratic to try to suppress votes from people who might be less informed than yourself.

If they really object to voting they can pay the $20 fine as a conscientious objector.

I can't really respond to a made up statistic that you read somewhere. People use how to vote cards to choose preferences.

@Whirlybird @null_dot arguably, not voting is a vote against your own interests

Why would they suddenly not vote if it became optional? The problem isn't that they're voting, it's that they don't have the class consciousness to recognise and investigate their core interests in federal politics.

From Condorcet's jury theorem, it's clear that having a few million less voters won't solve the problem, but improving the political literacy of voters can.

compulsory voting removes some of the apathy: “they’re both the same” isn’t as powerful to stop people (and let’s be honest here, this tactic works best against progressives) getting out to vote if they’re already at the polling place… it virtually eliminates voter suppression