It's really not that difficult...

[lederhosen]

Mostly for the benefit of non-Australian readers, but...

Last Saturday, Australia had a federal election. Due to compulsory voting, the per capita voter turnout was double the USA's typical levels. Both Senate and Representatives use a more complicated system than their US counterparts. (We don't have a directly-elected leader; instead, he's chosen by whichever group has the majority in the Reps.)

Polls closed at 6 pm. By 10 pm, we knew which party would be running the country for the next three years. Less than five days after the close of polling, only four of 150 Reps seats remain in serious doubt (awaiting postal votes), and the Senate results are similarly close to being decided (although the exact counts won't be finalised for a while yet).

All these ballots were counted by hand. Across Australia, every polling booth used the same voting method, with ballot papers following a standard format. IIRC, every single vote is kept for some time, and if there's any question about an outcome they can be pulled out for a recount.

Can somebody please explain, with examples from the US, why anybody without malicious intent would consider e-voting to be preferable?

For bonus points, explain how Australia's electoral system is less efficient for being run as a government agency rather than by private companies.

Comments

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

You won't get any replies. Australia does have a better electoral system that the U.S.

That said, the U.S. has a better constitution...

[chaos-crafter.livejournal.com]

Why did you go specifying "with examples from the US". All their systems seem to be produced with malicious intent.
Why E-voting. Because of the principle of it. Ideally I should be able to vote from where-ever I am whenever there is an issue that warrant my input. Philosophically the advantages of electronic voting are all there. The questions all arise in the practical considerations about how to make it secure, tracable etc. etc.

And as for how Australia's electoral system is less efficient, well with our system it's harder to rig the vote, and you can't get jobs-for-the-boys deals. It's so un-free-market. How else are you supposed to efficiently hand government money to your family?

[wingedkami.livejournal.com]

After reading your posts about the election I've decided I like the Australian system better than the British one. I still think the British one is miles ahead of the US one though, and I'm starting to see the benefits of compulsory voting even if I don't like the idea very much. It just needs to be easier to get onto the electoral register. I didn't vote in the European elections because I was registered in the wrong town, got sent someone else's ballot card, and didn't have time to work out how to fix it before the election. Next time I'll be voting.

[unsworn-nomore.livejournal.com]

I'm just grateful we don't have that god-awful Electoral College system. Or Primaries.

Or the 'winner takes all ethic' that underlies the greater portion of electoral system design in the States.

[panacea1.livejournal.com]

Or the 'winner takes all ethic' that underlies the greater portion of electoral system design in the States.

"'Winner takes all' ethic" is an all too accurate description of much of American culture in general, though. Which is why I have little hope for the improvement of our electoral system any time soon.

[unsworn-nomore.livejournal.com]

I didn't want to say it... but, yeah, that's what else I was thinking...

[lederhosen.livejournal.com]

Actually, we do have primaries - they're called "preselection".

[unsworn-nomore.livejournal.com]

Preselection fills much the same role in our system, sure, but it's a very different - and considerably less public or wastefully expensive - procedure.

[lederhosen.livejournal.com]

My understanding (which may be wrong) is that the USA used to have something closer to the Australian system, but shifted to the current system in response to corruption. Preselection works OK here, but branch-stacking can be a serious annoyance; I can see why somebody might want to drag it out into the light of day, especially in a country where dirty tricks campaigns are much more widely accepted.

BTW, if I was going to transplant the Australian system to the US, I think I'd have ballots filled in with pen, not pencil...

[unsworn-nomore.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's always struck me as a serious issue here, too.