VOTING IS THE METHOD IN WHICH THE PEOPLE FREELY CHOOSE THEIR POLITICAL REPRESENTATION.

One of the most important changes we must first tackle is to creating an informed electorate.  Not only must we tackle the ingrained apathy but also make sure people are not only adequately informed about how to vote, but also who their choices are.  How can we create an informed government without firstly creating an informed electorate?  The electoral commission has a mandate to keep the electorate informed.  During my court case with them in 2006, Chief justice Doyle deemed that the extent of their position did not expect them to inform us of who is running.  The media like-wise have a proven right to freely choose the content of their mediums as they are not deemed to be public service providers, even though they portray the opposite position. Becoming informed remains in the hands of the electorate and as such dies at the hands of the apathetic.   I personally believe the electoral commission has shirked its responsibility and owes it to the South Australian voters to supply at least a list of the candidates with some brief information including contact details. It remains the task of the voter to be vigilant, to investigate who our choices are and what they stand for.  Remember that you are putting your state's, and indeed your country's, long term future in their hands.  The 2 major political parties have too much to gain from the current system with all of its structural biases.

So we find ourselves in a situation where we can not easily become informed, the whole process has encouraged us to become apathetic, we are forced to preference even those we oppose, and our intention when voting is overlooked.  The votes are counted without regard for the candidates with the most support. So much for democracy and a fair go!

At this stage you may be wondering how they get away with it? As I stated earlier when those that write the laws have a conflict of interest what would you expect?  I took action regarding these and many other violations as a voter after the 2006 state elections, during the trial the chief justice of the supreme court in S.A. had the government and all the ministers put on notice that they may become jobless, yet the media even refused to report on such an important matter as if they had something to gain from remaining silent.  In fact the human rights and equal opportunity act, universal declaration of human rights and the constitution all have no standing in our supreme court.   Even natural justice is over-ruled!  The deafening silence of the government and the media regarding these types of issues is paving the way for the continued erosion of all of our rights in general. 

There are many short falls that have raised their ugly heads over the past 12 years and although I would not be aware of them all I will take this opportunity to list a few I have endured.  When my wife and I first ran for the senate (federal electoral commission), through luck or good negotiations, we secured first preferences from all of the other major parties.   When the ballot papers where released, the electoral commission left our name off of the 'above the line' voting box.  This created a situation where if you put a '1' next to our names, below the line, it would be an informal vote, and to have your vote count for us you would have to vote in a blank box.  By the time we found out we had only a couple of weeks to let all of South Australia know about the problem.  As you would expect, that was out of our financial reach. The media offered no support and it became impossible to inform the electorate, and the supporters who wanted to vote for us found it extremely difficult!  There have been many instances where the vote1 posters of the minor parties were taken down leaving only posters of Labor or Liberal on display.  In some cases minor parties and independents cannot even advertise with some mediums. The fact is that no election can take place on a level playing field, as the major parties have not only huge tax payer funded resources but also the support of the media. Considering this, it is hard to understand why they would feel the need to undermine our whole system of democracy just to totally ensure that they have no possible opposition.

THE CORNERSTONE OF ANY SOCIETY IS DEMOCRACY, so the fight for a fair go has to start here, does it not? For a Fair go vote 1 in box F on your legislative Ballot paper