When we went to vote at the Australian consulate in Century City the other day, the concierge downstairs asked what we thought it would be like if Americans were compelled to vote. I just said I thought there were advantages in not being able to opt out; in feeling you aren't leaving all the decisions in the hands of those who already have clout. (I once took the option of numbering all 230-odd boxes on an Upper House ballot paper and feel sure I'm one of those handful of voters who denied Pauline Hanson a seat in the NSW Legislative Council.)
But compulsory voting here would have a disturbing aspect. It's spectacularly easy here to not know what's going on. I get queries from friends back in Australia asking my views on things going on in US politics and I don't know what they're talking about. I haven't heard anything. Australians, I think, are much better informed about world events and that includes what's going on here. This is possibly a symptom of being so far off the main routes; Australians compensate by having a thirst for information. But I also think there's a very small and slight reason you wouldn't expect.
I don't watch much news in Australia. I don't buy a newspaper there either. But there are newsagencies everywhere - every mall, every shopping strip, street corner after street corner. And they have the day's headlines emblazoned on those sheets that the newsagent (yes, it's a job in Oz) places outfront in those wire frame thingys (technical name escapes me). You can't really walk down a street in Oz or stop at a traffic light or go to the fruit shop, butcher's or deli, without knowing the day's biggest news. It's in front of you; you don't have to have your cellphone on. This doesn't guarantee deeper thought or insight I know, it doesn't guard against people who think they have a right to their ignorant opinion, but it's a step toward a better-informed public. And, why would you want that? Hmmm, I don't often quote Thomas Jefferson, but...
"if a nation expects to be ignorant & free, in a state of civilisation, it expects what never was & never will be."
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