[SEL] OT ..congrats to the US

[Glen Harris]

Ummm, it's not compulsory to vote for a _particular_ candidate, and 
there's usually at least a handful to choose from. ;-)

Here's the AEC FAQ page:
http://www.aec.gov.au/FAQs/Voting_Australia.htm

And a rather concise history and discussion of the points for and 
against compulsory voting:
http://www.aec.gov.au/pdf/voting/compulsory_voting.pdf

Most flavors of democracy involve both rights and responsibilities, but 
if this is one you don't want to participate in, the vote is secret and 
you can always make it informal.

Cheers, glen.

Mark Shulaw wrote:
> You  have Compulsor voting????  Even though I disagree with folks who don't 
> vote  I find the idea of compulsory voting repugnant.
> Personally, I have never missed a voting day since I came of voting age. 
> 22-23 years ago and wouldn't dream of missing one but being forced too 
> seems wrong too. Reminds me of the stories of the elections in Russia and 
> the vote would almost always by unanimous for the party choice.   Mark