Using someone else's vote

is a criminal act. It also happens more often than anyone cares to admit.

I am not suggesting that there is wide scale "fraud" in the US election or that there is similar fraud here. What we do need to recognise is that there are people with profound intellectual disabilities who are on the electoral roll. They do not understand, even in the simplest terms, what "choice" is and they are not able to mark a ballot paper or instruct someone else how to do it.  Instead other people use their vote for their own purposes.

It is very easy to do here in Downunder. Nobody asks for any form of identity at a polling station. I have often thought I could be anybody at all when I go to vote - apart from the fact that someone will almost certainly have already said, "Hello Cat." That happens simply because party hacks are handing out "How to Vote" cards and I will usually know more than one of them - from widely differing parties. Once inside though it would be a relatively simple matter to dishonestly pretend to be someone else.

This actually happened to someone I know. He "voted" seven times one  year. Someone bent on causing trouble for him visited seven different polling stations and got his name marked off. He already had a postal vote and, fortunately for him, could show that he was at his brother's wedding on the other side of the country on polling day. It was more than a little awkward for him for a few hours. They never caught the perpetrator although he is certain he knows who did this to him. 

That sort of behaviour is rare and people usually get caught. What is far more serious and possibly more widespread than people are aware of is the way in which the vote of vulnerable people is used  by those who believe they know better than that person. Having your name on the electoral roll is compulsory in Downunder. Attending the ballot box, accepting the papers, marking them and placing them in the boxes provided are all required by law. There is no actual compulsion to vote - nobody can force you to mark the ballot paper with your preferences.  Nevertheless there is a widespread belief, encouraged by the state and federal electoral commissions that it is compulsory to vote. 

There are rare cases where people are not required to vote. If you don't have the intellectual capacity to understand the process then there is no requirement to vote. Your name should not be on the register. This will require medical/psychological assessment and a certificate presented to the appropriate authorities. It is not difficult but there are "carers" who choose not to see this is done - and they can then use the vote of that person. There are also carers who tell people things like, "Look, it's a real hassle getting you to the polling station. Tell me who you want to vote for and I'll go and do it for you." NO! Apart from anything else I am aware that any carer who says this will also likely go ahead and vote the way they themselves want to vote. There are also people who cannot read who rely on others to fill out the ballot paper for them. They may well know what they planned to do but ensuring the other person does as requested is another story.  People are bullied into voting in certain ways. Anyone not able to independently attend a polling station and who requires help filling out a ballot paper is at risk. 

I have actually done a small but serious piece of research about this and it is one of the many reasons I oppose our current system of voting. I believe voting is a right. Lose it if you are incarcerated never to be released. Have it in abeyance if you are the head of one of the electoral commissions. If you are not in the country, are not likely to be before the next election after the one in question and feel you are not well informed then ask to be excused if you wish. All that seems reasonable enough but nobody has the right to use another person's vote simply because that person finds it difficult to vote or does not understand the process. 

I don't know how much of that goes on in other places. I don't know whether it has really been an issue in the US election - although friends have mentioned individual concerns to me those things happen everywhere. What I do know is that any attempt to use someone else's vote is wrong. It has to be met with the full force of the law if it can be shown to have happened.