NEWS

Voters told to do their homework before voting

A new video reminds voters to compare candidates carefully before voting in the 2019 Australian federal election.

The video campaign launched today by Vote Australia through social media encourages voters to "do their homework" by considering carefully what candidates say about themselves and their policies.

Vote Australia believes that many voters are being disadvantaged by incomplete information and inaccurate claims that take advantage of short attention windows on mainstream media and social media.

The video reminds voters that researching the background and policies of candidates is as important as doing research before choosing where to live, buying a car or booking a holiday.

The campaign encourages voters to study candidates running for election in the voters' electorates before making a final voting decision.

The video is circulating through social media for the federal poll on 18 May 2019 and will remain available on the Vote Australia website (www.voteaustralia.org.au) to remind voters for future elections.

Vote Australia is an incorporated not-for-profit public-interest entity registered in New South Wales. Vote Australia is not affiliated with any political party or organisation and receives no funding from government or from any other organisation. It is funded entirely by public donation and staffed by volunteers whose focus is helping voters navigate Australian democracy.

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  • signed up on Subscribe 2024-04-18 16:11:18 +1000

  • commented on Unwanted influences on the voting system 2023-11-23 12:15:44 +1100
    Please I need your vote

  • signed Mark Off Voters Electronically 2023-10-04 12:37:02 +1100
    This must be done to ensure that a voter casts only one vote, besides proposed changes in this petition there should be way for voter to cross check their voting status (voted/yet to vote) for every election event

  • commented on Compulsory voting 2023-09-14 22:49:29 +1000
    John de Wit, less empty negative comments please.

    I’m happy to answer real questions if you’re not yet clear how DCAP works to guarantee fair results. I sympathise – it took me ages to fully understand why current voting systems fail voters and then years to work out how to correct it and then to twig to the simple maths behind it and finally to be able to give simple examples that demonstrate it.

    E.g. it is not obvious that my DCAP system is correct when it will declare that Party D, of 4 parties standing, and with 45% first preferences is the winner despite Party A having 51% first preferences. But that is correct IF, repeat IF, in the election Party A had 49% of 4th (or LAST) preferences and party D had 55% of 2nd preferences. I have proved that particular case, no matter what preferences parties B and C get within the values I specified. Can anyone prove me mathematically &/or logically wrong there? No way! The correct Proportional results in a 100 seat electorate is NOT A=51 seats and D=45 Seats. The correct results is A=27 Seats and D=41 seats with B&C sharing the remaining 33 seats.

    So, it will not be a majority Government for A in its own right. Rather, it will be a minority government, of probably D in coalition with B or C; or, a slim chance of A running a minority government. Apart from the speculation of who will arrange a coalition; who can logically prove I’m wrong and that that voters preferences showed that they collectively wanted A as a majority government? It can’t be done unless you ignore voters’ clear collective preferences. The fact is that a marginal “absolute majorities” may be a real win; or, a travesty of electoral justice simply because Distribution of Preferences (AKA Instant Run Off) and First-Past-The-Post systems are inherently incapable of guaranteeing a fair result.

    I have proved that. I challenge anyone to prove me wrong.