Comments on: Oh, Wait –

By: Carolus Hereticus

Carolus Hereticus — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 19:23:41 +0000

Holidays: I’ve long been a proponent of abolishing ‘holidays’ altogether in favor of either additional leave/vacation days or personal days to be taken as the employee likes.

As a fed (DoD civilian), I get a generous leave allowance and 10 federal holidays a year. As far as I’m concerned, I’d rather take _my_ holidays off at times other than the rest of the country.

But then, I’d also restructure my workweek so that my ‘weekend’ was a Tue/Wed or Wed/Thu so as to avoid Sat/Sun weekend crowds and such …

By: Mycroft W

Mycroft W — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 18:54:01 +0000

In defense of the U.S., we only have one to three things to vote on in our elections, not 20. But still, paper and pencil, sorted by eyeballs and counted seems to work, even in civic elections where we do have 6 or 7 things to decide.

By: Mycroft W

Mycroft W — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 18:52:27 +0000

Bevibe, honey, Canada has a much smaller population (but, you know, has the same number of voters per poll counter as the US), crosses 6 time zones, and has the same kind of problem Alaska has, only you can drop Alaska into the three territories without having it splash (oh, and one-sixth the population, without the benefit of two major metropolitan areas) as well as cities that rival Chicago in metro size and population.

We vote today. I expect 90% accuracy in expectations by 2100 tonight, most polls finalized by 0000, and apart from the three or four forced recounts, perfect knowledge by the time I wake up.

I’m amazed by your voting, too – just not the same way you are.

By: Mac

Mac — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 15:49:53 +0000

Thanks, Shane! Dang, my source was unreliable. This is how rumors get started. :-D

By: shane

shane — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 15:36:49 +0000

This official version below is from the AEC (Australian Electoral Commission) but the short version is there is a fine of $20 [about US$15 since last week :( ]. $50 if you refuse to pay and it goes to court. If you have a legit excuse, and there are many, you can get out of it easy. I did once – I can’t remember why, travelling I think. They will send you a “please explain” letter first.

Voting at federal elections has been compulsory since 1924 for all citizens on the Commonwealth electoral roll. Anyone who is unable to provide a valid and sufficient reason to the Divisional Returning Officer for failure to vote at a federal election and who does not wish to have the matter dealt with by a Magistrates Court may pay a penalty of $20 (section 245).

If an elector who has failed to vote refuses to pay the $20 penalty, then the matter may be referred to a Magistrates Court, where a fine of $50 plus costs may be ordered on conviction. Anyone who chooses not to pay the court-ordered fine will be dealt with by the Court accordingly, and this may involve community service orders, seizure of goods, or one or two days in jail. The penalty in such circumstances will be a decision for the local Magistrates Court and not the Australian Electoral Commission.

By: Mac

Mac — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 15:12:15 +0000

@Shane #97 — what is the actual fine for not voting? I’ve heard anywhere from $200 to $2,000 (and I’ve no idea if these wild rumors are even US or Australian dollars). It can’t be $2,000 though (can it???) — what if you’re sick or incapacitated on election day?

By: Jess

Jess — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 14:25:08 +0000

I don’ mind having columbus day off since it falls right after my birthday so I get a three day weekend around my birthday which is nice.

However having election day off would make a lot more sense to the rest of the world, especially when most polling places get really crowded around 7-9 am and 4-6pm with people trying to vote before and after work.

By: shane

shane — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 14:22:31 +0000

I forgot to mention. Oz elections are compulsory too. Actually voting isn’t. Attending the polling station and getting your name crossed off the electoral roll is the compulsory bit. You’d think that with compulsory voting you’d get a high invalid or informal vote where the vote has been screwed up or left blank or Mickey Mouse’s name written in or something. But no, we have a better than 95% formal vote rate, ie. valid votes.

By: shane

shane — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 14:14:34 +0000

BeVibe @92, we in Australia usually know the result by midnight. Polls shut at 6pm and we have at least 3 times zones – more during the summer. Our system is more complicated too. We don’t vote for a president we just vote for local MPs and it is a preferential system – you have to number the candidates for your electorate in order of preference. No first past the post for us so it can take some time to figure out who won. The senate is similar but you’re voting for the entire state. It is all done on paper too. But the trick is the size of each electorate. Each electorate has between 60k and 100k voters. You have a bunch or electoral officials count the returns at each voting station. They pass the results up the chain to the national election centre and Bob’s your uncle. Easy. 10 million voters or 150 million, it would take as long.
Elections are on Saturday’s too.

By: Annalee Flower Horne

Annalee Flower Horne — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 14:01:35 +0000

As someone who works seven days a week (eff this economy): hands off my “you actually get a weekend this week” day.

I think it’d be nice if we changed the name to something like “genocide remembrance day” and actually made a thing of it, but I got to take in a movie yesterday and fix my cell phone. So I’m not complaining.

The mail thing did suck. I’m waiting on a netflix.