Are we obligated to be well-informed before we vote?

By Simon Longstaff

A version of this article was first published: The Sunday Age - 18 November 2007

I’m in the market for a new gizmo. So, I have spent hours researching the alternatives: rival product features, comparable value for money, technological innovation, and so on.

My enquiries would have carried on, unabated, during the course of the federal election. However, about a week ago, it suddenly struck me that I hadn’t spent more than ten minutes looking at the policies published by the political parties contesting this election. I am not particularly proud of this admission – and have sought to catch up with what’s on offer from the different parties.

However, my own slap-dash approach has led me to wonder about whether or not we have an obligation to be well informed before we cast our ballots.

From a legal perspective, there are only three restrictions on voting in a federal election. No person may vote if: under 18 years of age, of unsound mind or convicted of treason. So, it is possible to be entirely clueless about the issues at the core of the election and still vote.

I have met people who have argued that this is a ridiculous state of affairs – that the right to vote is too precious to be squandered on the ignorant or indifferent. In essence, critics of the current situation reject the idea of a universal franchise and hark back to an older time when the right to vote was enjoyed by a limited group – typically propertied men. It is just less than a hundred years ago that women were denied the vote because it was thought, by powerful men, that those without a y chromosome suffered from an innately inferior capacity for rational judgement. Earlier on, men without a defined level of property were similarly excluded – on the basis that they did not have a real ‘stake’ in the country. There have also been exclusions structured around religion, ethnicity and so on. For example, the shameful exclusion of indigenous Australians from voting was an example of nothing more than racist claptrap.

Fortunately, we now have ‘universal suffrage’ – in which all citizens may vote irrespective of gender, colour, religion, education, or any consideration other than the three mentioned before. Of course, in Australia, voting is not merely a right – it is also a compulsory obligation of citizenship. So as long as you turn up on voting day, it does not matter if you are a governor general or a bum – your vote counts the same. I say ‘Hooray’ to that.

However, to support the principle of universal suffrage should not be taken to imply indifference to the phenomenon of people voting in total ignorance of the issues. Personally, I think that the quality of democracy in Australia would improve if there was far more political ‘literacy’ combined with popular engagement over questions of policy and not just the theatre of politics. Indeed, I am troubled by the fact that some voters haven’t the foggiest idea about the Australian Constitution or the operation of the parliament they are involved in electing (the Senate is often a complete mystery).

But this is not to say that such people should be judged less eligible to vote. Rather, I would hope to persuade every citizen that electing politicians is important work and that each of us should make some effort to reach an informed decision on polling day.

My aim would be to stimulate interest in a range of issues that might provoke something more than a consideration of self interest. I would also want to arm people with the capacity (and not just the will) to see beyond the ‘flim flam’ of campaign rhetoric. This is why the quality of education provided to every citizen is of such importance in a democracy. A failure to educate can disenfranchise citizens. They may still be able to vote – but without a good education they will not be able to make a truly informed choice, even if they want to.

On the other hand, why should anyone be swayed by what I think? Isn’t the whole point of democracy that each individual citizen should be free to vote for reasons that are entirely their own?

If a citizen chooses to vote for a candidate for no reason other that he or she likes the colour of their eyes, then so be it. But if we don’t like the result, then there is only ourselves to blame. That’s the great thing about democracy – ultimately we are the authors of our own political destiny.