6 ms·

> The participation rate has always been low in rich western countries. Australia has entered the chat.

• extra88 1y ago
  You can't bring them up without including that voting is compulsory there.
  • crabmusket 1y ago
    See my sibling comment. Getting your name checked off is compulsory but nothing stops you from handing in a blank ballot.
    • swat535 1y ago
      Why would you hand blank ballot at. That point? You might as well vote.
      • aloha2436 1y ago
        "I don't like any of the rat-bastards." "I don't care." "I think it's funnier to draw a dick. (And I don't care.)" "I trust other people to make the right choice." "I refuse to participate in this bourgeois sham election." ...are all reasons I've heard, even if I don't actually understand any of them.
    • extra88 1y ago
      For the purposes of this comparison, those "informal" votes still count in the typically used participation statistics. Voters intentionally case "wasted" ballots in other countries too.
• crabmusket 1y ago
  For reference, informal votes were around 5% in our last federal election: https://results.aec.gov.au/27966/website/HouseInformalByState-27966.htm https://results.aec.gov.au/27966/website/HouseInformalByStat... This article contains a fun breakdown of the types of informal votes including a category for "the usual anatomical drawings" (0.7% of informal votes): https://www.crikey.com.au/2025/04/22/2025-federal-election-peter-dutton-dickson-informal-votes/ https://www.crikey.com.au/2025/04/22/2025-federal-election-p...