The Adventures of QueerPenguin

Vote - it's what the cool kids do

There're some reputable rumblings - Mumblings, even - that suggest an August election is not out of the realm. Given that Howard has until January next year for an election to be announced and held - and he probably wants it to be out of the way before APEC in September, when he might otherwise be obliged to keep smiling alongside his mate, the now single most despised US monkey leader in history - August cannot be dismissed.

My public service announcement in anticipation of this early election, then, is to implore everybody who is eligible to vote, or whose electoral address has changed since October 2004, to please, please make sure you are actually correctly enrolled to vote - right details, right address, etc.

You see, last year, under the radar and with very little fanfare - exactly the way he wanted it - Howard altered the deadlines to enrol to vote. You used to have a week from the date the PM announced the election - and the writs were issued - either to enrol to vote for the first time or notify the AEC of a change in address, if you hadn't yet done so.

Now, the deadline for the AEC to receive your correctly completed enrolment form is 8pm on the same day the writs for the election are issued.

At the time of this 'reform''s implementation, Howard (or at least, Nick Minchin) claimed it would assist with AEC's efficiency. But as always, reality dictates differently from the Howard government spin. The fact is that younger, first-time voters - and short-term renters moving around the cities - are still overwhelmingly Green and/or Labor voters. Howard simply implemented an unnecessary new impediment designed solely to block out a significant number of people who don't otherwise vote for him.

And I have a horrible feeling in me waters that given what will surely be a very close election, the number of people who plan to vote but find out too late they've missed the boat could just be enough to swing the victory Howard's way.

So I'm doing my little bit in my tiny corner of the blogiverse to make sure this doesn't happen, by reminding all good QP-reading folk to please make sure you don't fall victim of Howard's masterplan. Your best option to is to follow this link to the AEC website, where you can check your enrolment details, electorate, polling places and so on.

Of course, this would not be an issue if we had fixed election dates like the US and some Oz states. In a true democracy, it should not be left to the whim of the PM of the day to call the vote according to the date of the most favourable opinion poll. Every time I hear Howard coo that he has 'no idea' when the election will be I'd like to strip the smug look off his mug with undiluted sulfuric acid politely point out to him that his lack of knowledge could easily be resolved by providing himself - and we pleb voters - with certainty, so that in the event we miss out on being correctly enrolled to vote, we have nobody but ourselves to blame.

Nevertheless, this is not the case, so today I'm doing my blog bit (and will probably post subsequent reminders until the big day). Even if you're planning to send your vote-love J-Ho's way, I still want you to be enrolled. Unlike Howard, I want this election to be a genuine reflection of the majority will of all voters.

Labels: 2007 federal election, enrolling to vote, Howard government

posted by Sam @ Monday, July 02, 2007