On October 9, 2004 Australia went to the polls and elected the Howard Government for a fourth term. The Labor Party polled a long way behind, followed by the Greens and the Liberal’s coalition partners, the National Party.  

Coming in fifth wasn’t a political party. In 2004, 639,851 Australians lodged informal votes, or 'spoiled votes'. That’s around five times the votes received by One Nation and only 50,000 behind the Nationals. 

We should remember Australia’s compulsory voting system requires all eligible voters to attend a polling booth and get their name crossed off the roll; it does not compel citizens to actually lodge a formal vote for a candidate. Every election hundreds of thousands of Australians exercises the choice to lodge informal votes by submitting blank ballots or inserting the name of someone who is not running.  

Why is it that in a nation with dozens of political parties representing the interests of everything from radical Marxists to the humble sun ripened tomato, so many choose to throw their vote away? The potential reasons are many. In part, it may be voters don’t know enough about any of the candidates to make informed decisions. Others may see the actual democratic process as inherently flawed. Or it is possibly, maybe probable that they are just too lazy or apathetic to care.  

However, there is a suggestion that a significant number of people vote informally for the same reason 70,000 Australians reported their religion as ‘Jedi’ in the 2001 census: it is a form of expression without having to choose from what they may perceive as the lesser of two evils. By voting for no one Australians can show their active dislike of the system and the limited choices placed before them.  

Refraining from voting has, at times, shown to be a viable and successful tool for change. In South Africa, millions refused to take part in elections for a power sharing government which was grossly biased towards the apartheid regime. This denied the regime the legitimacy it craved and quickened its downfall.  

However, this is where the parallel ends. Australia in 2007 is not 1980s South Africa. A mass movement refusing to take part in an illegitimate election is not the same as one person lodging a vote for a cartoon mouse on the basis they believe the two major parties are clones of each other. 

That said it is possible to use the democratic privilege of voting to express discontent on election day. The first step is to become informed. If you have no desire to vote Labor or Liberal on tomorrow then don’t. Find a party or individual whose position you think best suits your own and pencil them in instead. If you live in New South Wales and think Dr. Karl would make an awesome senator then lodge a vote for the Climate Change Coalition.  

Preference flow ensures that no vote is wasted. Even a vote for a party which has no hope of winning will eventually trickle down to another candidate more likely of winning. In effect, this registers a protest against the latter candidate; it sends a message that you are not happy with their performance on a particular issue. After all they need you, the voter, to keep them employed; if enough protests are registered they are likely to listen.  

So unless you’re a dedicated Anarchist there is no reason not to vote informal this tomorrow. Besides, if you don’t look out for the sun ripened tomatoes who will? 

Edited by Thomas Arup

Photo: Keith Kristoffer Bacongco