Voting to WIN!

Australian voters feel trapped into voting for candidates they may not like in order to defeat others they like even less.

There are several forces at work that maintain this voting culture.

Fear of a detestable outcome

Abbot vs Gillard, Gillard vs Rudd, Rudd vs Abott. It can often seem that with our vote we are forced to choose between the better of two evils. The Australian political spectrum is populated by wholly uninspiring leaders.

The compulsion to choose between the two likely political leaders is magnified when we the voters perceive either of the potential leaders to be absolutely detestable.

Notice how our major party candidates spend so much of their energy convincing us to detest them. The Coalition’s social policies seem to be designed to drive those who care about societal equality into the waiting arms of Labor while Labor's economic intervention seems to be designed to drive free market thinkers into the waiting arms of the Coalition. The policies of each party are often as much about securing votes as about driving away those who may not vote for them. Lines are drawn and the voters are pushed and pulled to the two major parties.

In this manner, the two major parties actually support one another more than they combat one another. Think about it; if both front-runners were likable, Australians might feel more comfortable voting for some of the smaller parties.

Wanting to ‘Win’

People often vote based on who they believe is the front runner because they want to vote for 'a winner'. Since we want to influence the outcome, our first thought is to differentiate between the two likely political leaders.

To the extent that there is a bandwagon effect for people to want to be on the side of the winner, this means that polls assume an important role in the decision-making process. This is compounded when the early perception is based purely on previous elections, leading to a virtually unbreakable cycle. This subverts our democracy, because as voters we should vote on the basis of considering the issues and positions and not poll numbers alone.

During the 2003 election in Brazil, when presented with the statement, "I always vote for the probable winner in an election", 13% of respondents said that they agree.

During the 1992 U.S. presidential election, Vicki G. Morwitz and Carol Pluzinski conducted a study, which was published in The Journal of Consumer Research. At a large northeastern university, some of 214 volunteer business students were given the results of student and national polls indicating that Bill Clinton was in the lead. Others were not exposed to the results of the polls. Several students who had intended to vote for Bush changed their minds after seeing the poll results.

The bandwagon effect is ultimately a barrier to the effective functioning of our democracy as it limits the overall candidate pool to those likely to win.

Because as a society we desire so much to be on the winning side of the election we choose not to vote for the minor parties even if their policies are more in line with our individual societal vision.

But you will waste your vote!

This is one of my most hated arguments for not voting, or voting for a major party over a third party. This argument dismisses your democratic voice and establishes that anything other than a winning side vote is a ‘waste’. No person gets to be the arbiter of how your vote is used. It trivializes the individuals choice in the election outcome.

There is no such thing as throwing away your vote, your vote is yours and is a representation of your individual place in socio-political community. You can vote for whomever you want, you can go in and not vote and you can go in and write 'fuck you' on your ballot.

None of this is wasting your vote, it is your opportunity to be involved in the political process and just because you don’t support either of the major parties or none at all does not make your voice a ‘waste’.

Third parties are vessels for ideas, values and policy proposals that are being rejected by a nation’s reigning party duopoly. Think about who is best representing the policies and principles that you care about.

note: in Australia political parties also get $2.50 per vote that they receive.