Re: Barking @Yet Another Anonymous Coward
"The biggest problem with Australia's voting system is not just that it's mandatory, it also uses what are called "preferences". Now, remember you HAVE to vote, and if you don't want to vote for Labor or Liberal, you could vote for a minority party like the Greens, the Sex Party, the Pirate Party, Hemp Party, One Nation and so on. But all of those parties are forced to stipulate "preferences" to other parties
[...]
Even an informal vote (e.g. a blank ballot paper, or one with a penis drawn all over it, or simply turning up and signing your name off and not putting a ballot in at all) is counted as a vote for the incumbent party, so you can't escape voting that way either."
Are you sure that's right? Although I'm not Australian, I (and Wikipedia) believe that Australia uses two forms of preferential voting system, a form of AV and a form of STV, and in both cases it is the voter who lists preferences.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
