#Voter ID Issue

[webdesigncompanyindubai]

MADHYA PRADESH AND CHHATTISGARH ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS 2023: POLLING TODAY; WHAT TO DO IF YOU DON’T HAVE A VOTER ID

On Friday, November 17, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh will conduct elections to choose their respective Assemblies. While Madhya Pradesh will witness voting across all 230 constituencies in a single day, the second phase of Chhattisgarh Assembly elections will cover 50 seats. 

Source:- https://www.teqts.com/madhya-pradesh-and-chhattisgarh-assembly-elections-2023-polling-today-what-to-do-if-you-dont-have-a-voter-id/

[resetmypatientviolence]

Okay I need to for real get back on here mindlessly minding my time & get to posting fanfic on Ao3. But until then… idk how life is chill yet busy as hell all at once. Here’s a glimpse at life lately in too warm Minnesota.

Looked hella cute while we had a Sunday morning zoo date and battled the wind. Props for my partners beard going wild.

Best damn animal pic I’ve ever taken.

Survived 24.1 but as I expected— it was a 15 min long workout as I did not finish that fucking torture.

A cooking causality on Sunday— any bets on how long this burn will last?

America’s fucked and I’m pissed old ass people are the too candidates but still, I’m going to exercise my right to freely vote, even if I’m rolling my eyes. Your vote matters.

[and-or-a]

Being friends with older people (by which I mean at least a decade older) is an experience. Because Ive had so many of them tell me within the past few years that our generation is going to fix things. Ive been worried about Trump winning this election since 2020 because I knew the influx of new voters wouldnt help anything but fuck me if I wanted to try to get anyone I know over 35 to understand that

[rvllybllply2014]

First time election voters psa

You are not allowed to wear your candidates gear not even a hat pin, you will be turned away and have to change outfits

Make sure you have a valid id at least in Missouri look up your states requirements

Phones might be allowed in booths but once again check with you state, most say that you can’t take a picture of your ballot

Candidate canvassers are not allowed within several feet of the polling station entrance varies by state so be sure to look it up for your state if they are breaking the law report them to polling station workers

It is public information that you voted but it’s private about how you voted, ie nobody will know unless you tell them

If you mess up on a paper ballot you’re allowed to request a new one

If using a machine and it malfunctions alert the poll workers

Polls close at 7:00pm but as long as you are in line before then, stay you have the right to vote

If any issues arises during voting contact your state’s election board to file a comlaint

Most importantly happy Election Day and vote like your life depends on it because it does

[miggylol]

[ID: A tweet and accompanying graphic. The tweet by Nathan J Robinson reads: "The Wall Street Journal editorial board tried to list all of Walz's terrible radical liberal policies and ended up making him sound fantastic"

The accompanying graphic is a screencapture of part of the Wall Street Journal article. It reads:

Funding "the North Star Promise Program, which provides free college for students with a family income under $80,000," including illegal immigrants.

Creating a state system for paid family and medical leave, capped at a combined 20 weeks a year and funded by a 0.88% payroll tax.

Mandating that public utilities generate 80% carbon-free electricity by 2030, ramping up to 100% by 2040. He's a fervent believer in "climate action."

Subsidizing electric vehicles by "requiring EV charging infrastructure within or adjacent to new commercial and multi-family buildings," as the Governor's office bragged.

Passing one of the nation's most permissive abortion statues that has essentially no limits and no age consideration for minors.

Declaring Minnesota to be a "trans refuge," with a law saying that the state will ignore a "court order for the removal of a child issued in another state because the child's parent or guardian assisted the child in receiving gender-affirming care in this state."

Establishing automatic voter registration and letting Minnesotans sign up for a permanent absentee ballot option.

End ID.]

[nardacci-does-art]

I only had 10 panels but here's some more fun exciting delightful articles about how republicans think public schools should make kids say christian prayers & teach students that slavery had no longterm affect on black communities, how trump makes fun of disabled people, & just a big categorized list of both republican & democrats' stances on various issues. Oh right the republicans are also lying & saying that the democrats gave all of FEMA's money to illegal immigrants even tho they're the ones who voted against FEMA funding. Not to mention that one time trump refused to fund California's wildfire relief until he was told there's people there who vote for him. Did all the anti-voters just conveniently forget how fucking bad it was when he was president last time.

Either you vote Harris-Wals or you let a bunch of hateful bigots run the US again. Stop using the horrible plight of the Palestinians to justify your voter apathy. It's really hard to help other people when you're fighting to survive. Put on your own oxygen mask first.

Any anti-voter morons will be blocked.

Articles referenced in screenshots under the cut:

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-israel-gaza-finish-problem-rcna141905

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/project-2025-what-is-it-who-is-behind-it-how-is-it-connected-trump-2024-07-12/

https://www.newsweek.com/hate-crimes-under-trump-surged-nearly-20-percent-says-fbi-report-1547870

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/climate/trump-environment-rollbacks-list.html

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/24/roe-v-wade-overturned-by-supreme-court-ending-federal-abortion-rights.html

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-anti-immigrant-rant-rally-response_n_66de9a43e4b01b464f3dee5e

https://abcnews.go.com/Health/trumps-chinese-virus-tweet-helped-lead-rise-racist/story?id=76530148

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4892401-trump-proposes-sanctuary-cities-legislation/

https://ballotpedia.org/2024_presidential_candidates_on_transgender_healthcare

https://www.piie.com/publications/working-papers/2024/international-economic-implications-second-trump-presidency

https://apnews.com/article/gaza-israel-refugee-crisis-gop-ban-terrorism-85afcf677743b8f8c82fe814ffe61161

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/11/11/unrwa-gaza-humanitarian-aid-congress/

[theonion]

n an effort to ensure only properly credentialed individuals are allowed to participate in the political franchise, a new law passed Thursday in Indiana requires all women voters to show their husband’s ID before they can be issued a ballot. “As part of our election integrity program, women must arrive at their polling place with a valid Indiana driver’s license, military ID, or U.S. passport belonging to their husband,” said Gov. Eric Holcomb, who added that the law also requires women to present a marriage license confirming they are wedded to a man and a signed letter from a male head of household stating that they have permission to leave their home.  Full Story

[tshifty]

i really wish that the left as a whole could have an open conversation about the "ethics" of voting and the pragmatism that comes with, in a rational fucking way.

bc in the past 24h ive seen SO much rhetoric along the lines of "i hate kamala harris. she has done bad things and has bad stances on an issue(s) i care about. therefore anyone who votes for her is an evil fascist and if you talk about voting at all you are a naive ignorant liberal".

like... yall can we come down to earth for like 30 seconds here? voting for the president is never going to be a 100% aligned ethical and moral choice. this country and our political system has NEVER been ethical. that doesn't erase the fact that we all exist in it. we are living in a reality here of kamala harris or donald trump. i would fucking love to have another option, another system. i believe one day we will. but... like yall do get that we have to make it there right???

voting is a tool. one of many. it cannot be used alone. but it IS one of many essential tools. and unfortunately we are voting to buy time, time to change the system and challenge electeds and demand an end to oppression here and abroad. so we get to choose who is easier to fight in the meantime.

the harris administration is absolutely going to take stances i disagree with. it would also take several stances i do agree with. the trump administration wants to get rid of elections and literally has a fascist playbook ready to go. id rather fight the liberal than the fascist, id rather buy time to continue organizing and pushing the envelope than go into emergency mode as we try to stave off a fascist tide. and on the issues kamala harris is shitty on? trump is exponentially worse like can we please be serious??

and yk what, truly, if people don't want to vote for the president at all bc they just absolutely cannot support any politician who had a role in genocide? i get that. fair enough. skip the top of your ticket then! you do not have to vote for every race if you really cannot. just vote for the local races. vote downballot. and for the love of god maybe stop screaming at people who Will be voting for kamala harris as a harm reduction method to hopefully stave off unbridled fascism for 4 more years.

there is a lot at stake in this election. there is a lot at stake downballot, in every single state, on the supreme court, and yes in the executive branch. and idk, the just vicious rhetoric ive seen calling voters fascists themselves?? is pretty gross, and it's deeply childish.

[transit-fag]

Hey, Amtrack!

I hope this isn't a weird ask but you have a large following and I was wondering if you wouldn't mind reminding folks who can vote in the US electon this November to check their registration and voter deadlines. I know several states like Ohio has unregistered thousands of people on technicallity rules the goverments seemingly pulled out of their asses.

I'm watching my NYS registration like a hawk on Vote.org but others can go to this website

https://www.usa.gov/voter-registration-deadlines

To know when their state closes registration.

People who have moved this year or had a name change or basicically any minor legal change to their legal IDs like a driver's licence seem to be affected and of course their old fashioned changing up districts particularly for neighborhoods that are made up in majority by folks of color.

Thanks!

Voting is always important to do, even if you have issues with the presidential canidates, you should vote in the local, state, and Congressional elections

So make sure you're registered to vote

[innuendostudios]

New video essay! On the Reverse Gish Gallop - how conservatives can ignore 90% of your argument and still appear to be winning.

If you would like more of this, subscribe to Nebula and/or back me on Patreon!

Transcript below the cut.

Say, for the sake of argument, you’re watching a political debate on TV. The conservative candidate has used their opening arguments to dump a truckload of dubious claims on their opponent. You recognize this maneuver: that’s the Gish Gallop! The debater makes point after dubious point, and, if the other debater doesn’t rebut every single one, they will appear to have lost the argument. These points don’t have to be good or hard to disprove, there just has to be a lot of them.

Oh, but what’s this? The liberal candidate seems to have come prepared! That’s new! They succinctly and efficiently dismantle each of their opponent’s arguments, offering a clear rebuttal to every single one. It’s obviously not the first time they’ve heard this particular gallop. So, the conservative’s petard has just fully hoisted them. [“What a hoisting!”] They’ve just lost their own game and have to go on the defensive… right?

Turns out, no! The conservative points to a minor error - maybe the liberal said their program would cost $40 million but is actually estimated to cost 43 - and treats them as an ignorant sap who can’t even count correctly. That is now the subject, everything else has been forgotten, and the liberal is backpedaling.

Wait, you exclaim, how does that work?! The liberal has to rebut each and every point but the conservative takes issue with one and stays in the driver’s seat? Are audiences fooled by this? Are liberals that easily snookered? The answer may shock you!

You’ve just borne witness to The Reverse Gish Gallop, where an entire argument falls apart if any of it can be disputed. These disputes, again, don’t have to be good, they just have to call the airtightness of the argument into question.

A good example is how conservatives obsess over gaffes. (Which, fuckin’... really guys?? [W, Trump]) Some Democrat will be all “conservatives want to shut down post offices as a form of vote suppression; they’re pushing voter ID laws and the post office is where many people get IDs; also we are relying more and more heavily on mail-in voting; they overwhelmingly try to shut down offices in Black and Latine neighborhoods; a lot of services like healthcare and courts still use physical mail by default and there can be serious consequences to getting it late; many elderly people still don’t use email, and, hey, maybe some of them like getting junk mail” “AH BA BA BA THAT’S IT THAT’S YOUR WHOLE LIFE NOW FOR THE REST OF YOUR CAREER YOU’RE THE ASSHOLE WHO SAID OLD PEOPLE LIKE JUNK MAIL.”

Your mistake was assuming that dishonest people abide by the same rules they impose on everyone else. When I was a teenager, some friends of the family would invite me along when they asked my parents to dinner, because I would play with their five-year-old and let the grown-ups chat in peace. And he’d make up games where we’d bat a balloon back and forth or whatever, and change the rules on the fly when it suited him. Because the rule wasn’t actually “you can only touch the balloon once per turn;” the rule was “Andrew wins.”

The purpose of a Gish Gallop is to establish a narrative not through argument or logic but force and volume. Once established, it takes a lot less effort for them to maintain than for you to establish a new one. If they shake confidence in your argument, the audience will often revert to the previous argument, whether or not that one was ever proven. It’s a not about which story is true, it’s about who sets the parameters for all stories going forward; who got there first. This is not a debate; this is a Zerg Rush. Understand: a dishonest argument is Lego - you haven’t dismantled it until every brick is separated. But an honest rebuttal? An honest rebuttal is Jenga.

[insert-witty-user-name-here]

Sharing these resources for anyone who needs them tomorrow:

Also- It’s unlikely to happen but voter intimidation is illegal. Learn more here and call 1-866-OUR-VOTE to report it. More information on your rights when voting here.

Unsure what’s on your ballot? Get a sample ballot here (this site is great because oftentimes they’ll also have information about a candidate’s stance on specific issues- especially helpful for nonpartisan school board races).

[Image ID: Know Your Rights on Election Day. If the polls close while you’re in line, stay in line. You have the right to vote. If you make a mistake on your ballot, ask for a new one. If the machines are down at your polling place, ask for a paper ballot. If you run into any problems or have questions about Election Day, call the Election Protection Hotline: 1-866-OUR-VOTE. /End ID]

[Image ID: If you have any trouble voting or have questions about your rights, call the non-partisan Election Protection Hotline. English: 1-866-OUR-VOTE / 1-866-687-8683. Spanish: 1-888-VE-Y-VOTA / 1-888-839-8682. Arabic: 1-844-YALLA-US / 1-844-925-5287. For Bengali, Cantonese, Hindi, Urdu, Korean, Mandarin, Tagalog, or Vietnamese: 1-888-274-8683. /End ID]

[1americanconservative]

@Bitcoin4Freedom

I can't stand Donald Trump. He is braggy, he insults people for no reason, and he is just a brutal personality. But my mind is made up. I'm voting for him and here's why: * He puts Americans and their well-being first. Kamala will not. * He will bring

@elonmusk

into his cabinet to be the efficiency czar and get rid of waste. This alone may be the best single reason to vote for him. * He will bring

@RobertKennedyJr

into his cabinet to Make American Healthy Again. He will finally get to the bottom of why our food companies are destroying the health of our children. * I'm sick of the way the media lies continuously about

@realDonaldTrump

, starting with the incessant racism claims. They are just nonsense. The latest thing I learned? He sent his plane to fly Nelson Mandela home after he was in jail with the U.S. wouldn't do it. Racist? No. * I'm sick of the U.S. being embroiled in foreign wars. Trump will keep us out of them again. He's just crazy enough that foreign nations will stand down. They have no fear of Kamala. They will fear him. * Trump sees this country as fundamentally good. Kamala sees it as inherently evil. * Trump will end the nonsense of the open border which makes our country less secure, less financially stable, and brings in millions of people illegally who compete for Americans' jobs. * This government has to print billions to care for the illegals. That makes all of our dollars less valuable and makes prices zoom upward. * He will stockpile Bitcoin. * He will keep men out of women's bathrooms and women's sports. * He is a heavyweight personality and negotiator. Kamala is a phony personality and a lightweight negotiator. * The people who want Kamala Harris to win are the most annoying people in the country. They have pushed for pronouns, masks, endless vaccines, cancel culture, riots, blatant racism towards whites, gender confusion, undermining the U.S. constitution. * He will upset the current political system. He was nearly the victim of assassination 3x. And he keeps going. He's not the best in interviews, but he at least puts himself out there. Over and over and over. Kamala hasn't done a single press conference. * Harris and the media trying to prop her up hid Biden's cognitive decline. They accuse

@realDonaldTrump

of being a threat to democracy. Yet she was installed as the nominee with no votes. She wants to pack the Supreme Court. She wants to eliminate the filibuster. She sued

@RobertKennedyJr

to keep him off the ballot. And the threat to democracy is Trump? Nonsense. * Those who support Harris look at Trump supports as vile, stupid, ignorant, and fascists. They disown family members or disinvite them from Thanksgiving dinner of they support Trump. This is disgraceful. * Every time she talks, I try to give her a chance. But she is the most phony and condescending politician I have ever seen. Ever. I can't do it. I won't do it. * She and those who support her are resistant to Voter ID and believe requiring an ID is racist. Her Department of Justice is suing the state of Virginia for trying to purge the voter rolls of illegals. Why would we not want 1 vote per 1 U.S. citizen? Is it more racist to believe people from the inner city are perfectly capable of securing a government issued ID? Or to believe they are incapable? That's it. I'm done. Thanks for hearing me out.

[covetyou]

good morning UK pals!

you may have already heard (shocker, I know), but there's a general election today!

if you're registered to vote, and haven't yet done so via a postal vote or set up a proxy vote, head out to your polling station - with photo ID! - to drop an X in a box before polling stations close at 10pm today!

if you have any issues, the best place to look is the UK government or Electoral Commission websites, however there's a little FAQ below to get you started.

how do I register to vote?

it's too late to register to vote in this election - the cut off was 18th June - but you can register at any time to be eligible for future elections and votes.

how do I vote by post?

the deadline for registering for a postal vote has also passed for this election, and postal votes will have had to be sent back by now to be counted - they need to arrive at your elections team of your local council before 10pm today to be counted. you can register for a postal vote, and find more info, in the UK government website.

how do I vote by proxy?

a proxy vote allows someone else to vote on your behalf. the deadline to apply for one for this election has passed, however you can still register for future votes.

there are still emergency proxy votes, for when unexpected circumstances arise and you can't get to your polling station. these can be applied for on the day, up to 5pm, by getting in touch with your local council electoral services team.

polling station? what's that? where's mine?

a polling station is the place you go to vote, and it'll be different for each person based on your post code - you can't go to just any polling station to vote!

if you're registered to vote, but don't know your polling station, you can check the electoral commission website to see where you need to go to cast your vote.

photo ID? since when?!

since May 2023, photo identification has been required to vote in most elections in the UK.

for most people, this simply means bringing their passport or driving licence with them to the polling station - and remember, out of date ID is valid in this case as long as it still looks like you!

if you don't have a passport or driving licence, there are other forms of ID you can bring to vote. if you don't have any of these you can also apply for a "Voter Authority Certificate", however the deadline to do this for this election has already passed.

how do I vote? what's the process?

when you arrive at your polling station - these are usually marked by big white signs that say POLLING STATION in bold letters - a member of the polling station staff will ask for your name and your ID.

once you're found on their many, many sheets of paper, they will hand you your polling paper and direct you to a booth. pencils are provided, so no need to bring your own.

simply put an X in the box if the candidate of your choice - just one! - fold your paper in half, and slip it into the ballot box before you leave.

if you have any other questions, polling station staff are a great first point of call. if you're unable to vote for any reason, contact your local authority electoral services team - contact details for these can be found on your local council website.

what times can I vote?

voting is open from 7am until 10pm at all polling stations. as long as you are in the queue to vote at 10pm, you will be allowed inside to cast your vote.

how do I tactical vote?

tactical voting this year aims to remove the Conservative party from as many constituencies as possible.

check stopthetories.vote for details of the best candidate to vote for in your area.

happy voting!

[mariacallous]

North Carolina removes 747,000 from voter rolls, citing ineligibility

North Carolina’s State Board of Elections has removed 747,000 people from its list of registered voters within the last 20 months, officials announced Thursday in a press release.

The State Board of Elections in the release said the majority of those stripped from the rolls were deemed ineligible to be registered because they had moved within the state and did not register their new address, or because they did not participate in the past two federal elections, prompting an inactive status.

Other reasons for removal included death, felony convictions, out-of-state moves and personal requests for removal, the board said.

North Carolina is one of seven swing states likely to decide the presidential election between Vice President Harris and former President Trump. Only one Democrat this century, former President Obama in 2008, has won the state in a presidential contest, but Harris has been polling close to Trump.

The state is also home to a tough gubernatorial contest between Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson and Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein.

The purge comes just a few weeks after North Carolina Republicans filed a lawsuit that said the state had failed to act on complaints about ineligible people on voter rolls.

In the GOP lawsuit, a Wake County resident in North Carolina claimed that voter registration forms in that county did not included driver’s license and Social Security numbers. 

“By failing to collect certain statutorily required information prior to registering these applicants to vote, Defendants placed the integrity of the state’s elections into jeopardy,” the GOP lawsuit read.

Republicans also filed a lawsuit recently raising concerns after state approved digital IDs issued by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as a valid form of voter ID. That claim was rejected by a local judge.

The state now has around 7.7 million registered voters. The Hill has reached out to the North Carolina State Board of Elections for comment.

[passerkirbius]

Compulsory Voting Looks Like...?

In my Voting With Spite post, I mentioned that Australia has compulsory voting, and I noted that quite a few people had either positive or negative reactions to that idea. I thought it might be a good idea to talk briefly about what Compulsory Voting actually does to your voting scene.

Now, to be clear, I'm going to be talking about the Australian Experience - that's what I know. I'm aware that Brazil and Belgium both have Compulsory Voting as well, and their experiences are likely to be a bit different. So, let's go through the big ones:

Do you need ID to vote?

Here, the answer is no - an ID can help, because when you get your name marked off the roll at a voting station, they use your name and address, and our driver's licenses have that, but it's not essential. Indeed, if you've changed address and that hasn't been recorded on the roll, you can still vote - this is called a "declaration vote", because the vote is put into an envelope where you "declare" that the information provided is correct, and the vote is counted once the electoral commission has verified the information.

One might think that this open up our system to a lot of fraud, but one of the fun parts about compulsory voting is that voter fraud is very easy to study - in such a system, if someone steals someone else's identity to vote, it will appear that that person has voted twice, and it gets investigated. The only other big fraud option is fraudulent enrolment - and again, because everyone is on the electoral role, if there's concern regarding a fraudulent enrolment, the electoral commission can check with people at the address of the enrolment. The AEC do these sorts of checks after every election, and it turns out, while there are often double votes, most of those are administrative errors (crossing off the wrong person somewhere), or entirely innocent (people with memory issues voting multiple times because they forgot that they'd already voted). During the 2018 election, only 118 cases were deemed worth forwarding to the Federal Police, out of over 20 million votes.

Do Politicians still play to the base?

In Voluntary voting systems, there is a well-known phenomenon where there's an incentive for politicians to, instead of trying to aim for policies that will satisfy the most people, to instead aim directly at their "base", their natural political home voters. The idea is that you don't actually need to persuade the other side to vote for you, you actually need to persuade your side to vote for you. The only prevailing counter to this is that you don't want to be so egregious that you motivate the other side to vote against you.

Historically, this has not been the case in Australia. In Australia, you can depend on your base to vote for you - they aren't going to stay at home, because it's compulsory to vote.

So they play to the centre?

Honestly, it's complicated. The question is often not about whether you're politically "in the middle", but where you live - Just like in other electorates, there are safe seats (where voter movement isn't likely to kick out the incumbent party) and marginal seats (where the margin of votes for a given party is quite small, generally less than 5%). Marginal seats are where political parties can potentially score a seat with only a little bit of a push, so it's standard strategy to build your campaign promises to directly target those marginal voters.

What those marginal voters actually want varies quite a bit, depending on where in the country they are - a marginal seat in Rural NSW need different targeting than a tiny marginal seat in Melbourne. In general these voters are looking for actual improvements in facilities and economic policy, rather than ideology, so while politicians from those seats may be absolute culture warriors, that often isn't what people in the seat are asking about or listening to - they want to know what the nutcase is actually going to do for them.

With that said, rural voters are more likely to want a personal connection to their MP and are much more likely to vote on who they, personally, like the most. This is less the case in Urban electorates, who care much less about who the MP is and what they're like, and much more about their party's platform.

But also also, there is a strong emphasis in politics about playing to "Ordinary Australians", which one can consider a code for "centre views". Of course, Australia as a society is pretty conservative in many ways, so what you consider "centre" may be a little left of what we consider "centre"...

So yeah, not nearly as simple as "playing to the centre" - there's a lot more involved there.

Are there such thing as "Independent" voters?

In Australia, at least, the idea of an "Independent" voter doesn't really exist - Australia's leaders aren't voted for in Primaries, so you don't need to have your political affiliation marked. Some Australians are members of political parties, but that number is tiny - in 2022, the two major parties had 100,000 members between them, in a population of 26 million people - about 0.4% of the population, maybe 0.5% if we count all the minor parties as well.

Are compulsory voters more engaged voters?

In a word? No. Australian society in general doesn't encourage people being overly involved or engaged in politics, especially in working-class subcultures (and of course, every Australian claims to be working class, regardless of their actual class). Like in many places, there's a pressure in face-to-face conversation to suppress political discussion to avoid conflict, and I can assure you that researching your candidates/parties before an election isn't a common activity (and I understand why - there's so many of them).

As a consequence, Australians don't tend to change their vote that often - in fact, studies in Australia have shown that there's a strong correlation between how you vote, and how your parents vote. A Labor voter is likely to stay a Labor voter, and a Liberal voter is likely to stay a Liberal voter, even if they're not a member of the party. This is why most election promises are much more about giving stuff to voters, rather than about legislation around society itself - It's considered safer to deal with infrastructure than it is to deal in culture wars issues.

Wait, if voters don't change often, how do opposition win?

Well, rarely is the honest answer to that question here. Since 1950, the party in federal government has changed only seven times:

Once in 1972, from the Coalition to Labor

Once in 1975, from Labor to the Coalition (although that one was a particularly odd one)

Once in 1983, from the Coalition to Labor

Once in 1996, from Labor to the Coalition

Once in 2007, from the Coalition to Labor

Once in 2013, from Labor to the Coalition

Once in 2022, from the Coalition to Labor

And during that time, there's been 27 elections, so in 20 out of 27 elections, the incumbent won. But with that said, every time the opposition wins, it's in a landslide, winning a huge number of seats.

The reasons for this are obviously complex, but the way I like to think about is that in Australia there's a certain inertia in the voting populace. Once your vote is set, there's not a lot that's going to change that vote - you're generally going to vote for the party that aligns most with you, and that isn't likely to change much. But as a party keeps fucking up (because they always fuck up), the more that votes wobbles - it might, initially, move your party down the preferences, which you might not notice (because it still funnels to you), but eventually, you've pissed off so many people that everyone votes for anyone but you arseholes, which results in the other party getting in with a landslide.

The previous government is usually horrifically savaged, to the point that it takes a few election cycles for them to slowly rebuild numbers, regain talent, and get themselves into a position where, now that the other side has fucked up sufficiently, voters are willing to let them have another shot at the big time.

This, awkwardly, also tends to stifle politically-lead social change, as well. Firstly, it can take decade or more for a party that is willing to engage with your chosen direction of society to become the Government, and even once they are there, it tends to be the case that Governments won't consider leading such changes until they are certain that everyone wants it - The Gay Marriage Postal Survey is an example. Any opinion poll could show you that the majority of Australians were for gay marriage, but the Coalition government of the time was against it. As a delaying tactic, they insisted on a postal survey (it couldn't be a plebiscite, because they couldn't get that through their own MPs) so every Australian had to vote on the issue. The result? 61.6% were for Gay Marriage (and up to 90% in some electorates!).

What if you can't vote?

Australia is something of a world leader in working to ensure that everyone can vote, because it's been generally established that you can't punish someone for not doing something the government has made it impossible for you to do. So, all Australians have access to:

Early Voting (usually for at least 3 weeks before election day)

Postal Voting (and you just have to post it on Election day, it can be received afterwards).

The voting infrastructure is set up that you can vote at any polling station in your state (we now print lower house ballots on demand, so every station has access to every ballot), and there are specific polling stations for interstate voters (where upper house ballots for every state are available).

There are mobile polling stations for voters, so even if you live in a remote town and can't drive to the nearest polling station, polling stations can drive out to you!

These mobile polling stations also attend prisons and hospitals to provide voting access for people who cannot leave to vote.

We even now have telephone voting for Blind folk, with a specialised system set up to allow for a secret ballot, so the phone person assisting the blind voter won't know who the blind voter is.

Australian embassies in other countries are also available for voters, although you are not actually required to vote if you're not in the country during the election campaign.

So, our voting infrastructure is built, as much as is practicable, to ensure that every voter gets every opportunity to vote. If you can't get to a booth on the day, you can early vote or postal vote.

To be clear, this is not a requirement of compulsory voting - it's quite possible to go to this level of effort in a voluntary voting system, and I can absolutely imagine a compulsory voting system that also made it difficult for people to vote (likely disproportionately affecting your political enemies).

Does Compulsory Voting help Minor Parties?

Not really - Preferential voting definitely helps minor parties, but not Compulsory voting. There is one way it might help though - As noted above, if you're pissed off with your current party, you may bump another party higher up on your preferences, even put them as your "1" vote. In a Voluntary voting system, such people might, instead choose not to vote and stay at home, so in that sense, I guess minor parties can be the beneficiaries of voter anger, but of course, that couldn't be the case without preferential voting.

Got more questions? My asks are always open! Ask away!

[sineala]

I subscribe to the newsletter of an author I like who wrote a book about 9/11 and the War on Terror and the security state in the US and how it led to the election of Trump, and it's all very serious but apparently the author is writing an Iron Man comics series. I don't read the comics, and a lot of what I know about them comes from your fic, so I'm honestly not sure how much fanon vs canon knowledge I have. 😂 But the series sounds like it might be interesting I think? The author talked about it in his newsletter today. (This link should work. Probably.)

https://www.forever-wars.com/iron-man-how-to-blow-up-a-pipeline-succession/

I am actually really excited about this run! I try not to get excited about new Iron Man runs because chances are high that my hopes and dreams will be crushed, and I know that just because someone writes, say, stunningly excellent non-fiction, it is not a guarantee that they will be great at writing fiction at all or superhero comics specifically (cf. Ta-Nehisi Coates on Cap), but judging by everything Spencer Ackerman's been saying in interviews, his run sounds like it's going to explore a lot of interesting themes.

The post you linked links to an AIPT podcast that he was on a few days ago to talk about his new Iron Man run. For those of you who don't listen to podcasts (this is also me), the Iron Man subreddit has what seems like a fairly comprehensive summary of the interview, and I am really looking forward to the run. Issue #1 apparently hits stores on October 23.

But I will tell you why I am actually now really excited about this run. It's not relevant to anything about the comic itself. I am nonetheless very excited.

Last month, after he was announced as the new Iron Man writer, in order to hype up his run, he posted an offer on his blog: if you add the run to your pull list, and you email him proof that you're pulling his run and include a snail-mail address, he will mail you some cool Iron Man stickers.

I eventually got around to doing this last week. I was assuming he didn't actually pay attention to any of these emails so I dashed off a couple sentences about how I was looking forward to his take on Tony because he'd posted a photo of the Iron Man comics he was reading for research and several of them were among my favorites. And then I went off to get bagels.

By the time I had come back with bagels, twenty minutes later, he'd written me a very nice reply substantively engaging with the content of my extremely off-the-cuff message -- geez, if I'd known he was going to be actually reading them I would have put a lot more thought into it, you know? It was very kind and I was not expecting it.

He spelled my first name wrong in the reply, despite it being in the email header and also the name I had signed the email with.

This happens to me a lot. I have a first name that is very common in a lot of languages, but none of those languages are English. I'd say there's a 50-50 chance that a native English speaker will spell or pronounce my name wrong. This is unfortunate, because I live in the US and mostly interact with native English speakers. (My wife @lysimache immediately knew how to pronounce my name. I mean, it wasn't why I married her or anything, but I feel like it was a big plus on a personal level.)

If I have to give my name for something, I will reflexively spell it. The second-to-last time I voted, they'd switched voter lookup to you giving them your name rather than you giving your street address, which was a surprise that filled me with dread. My wife was in line ahead of me and she was completely finished voting by the time the poll workers had finished correctly spelling my name. (The last time I voted, I just handed them my ID, which is not required in my state, but I really wanted this to go faster.) I went to the doctor last week, and when they called my name in the waiting room, they said it wrong. I corrected them. They said it differently wrong a couple minutes later. I corrected them again. They said it wrong again. At that point I gave up.

(If I could think of a name I liked better that I was absolutely sure that most people could spell and pronounce, I would change my name. I still have not found one.)

So, you know, I'm used to it. It happens. Frequently. I was not at all surprised that he spelled it wrong.

He then emailed me again to apologize for spelling my name wrong. Like, immediately. One minute later. He said he was sorry and he knew a lot of people with a similar name.

Dude. Nobody does that. Nobody actually apologizes. Especially not in an email to a rando like me. He did not need to do that. At all. I was not expecting him to do that. He did that. I was honestly touched. No one bothers to do that. But he did.

I got my stickers in the mail yesterday.

I have redacted the portion of the note that has my name in it, but he absolutely spelled my name correctly.

Mr. Ackerman, sir, I hope your comic sells a million copies.