Count me in
17th July 2010 with 53 comments
There is supposed to be an election running in August in Australia. I’m not into politics, so I don’t actually know what the election is for.
In Australia you have to be eighteen years old to vote. When you turn eighteen you must enrol to vote. If you don’t vote, you could be fined… face serious consequences… you get my drift. (I’m just really tired at the moment, excuse me.)
This will be my first time voting. Also, my parents are not Australian citizens, and my brother is younger than me, so I am the first person in my family who will be voting in an election here. It sounds cool, but really, get over it.
Haha.
I remember when I was in high school, people were already nearly turning eighteen. I didn’t turn eighteen until I was well into university, so I never had to bother with applications and enrolling. I do recall that most people saw voting as something unnecessary. The country does need our vote – I can understand that – but I guess a lot of us really don’t think our vote makes a difference, or that we should only vote when we want to.
In high school, a classmate said, “I don’t care, I’ll just vote for whoever.”
I couldn’t help but agree, and now I still feel the same, at least when it comes to country-wide elections. There are so many people that in retrospect, my vote is just one out of tens of thousands.
James had an idea. He said that whoever I was voting for, he would oppose, so our votes would cancel out. He then brought up the idea that we should have a large amount of people do the same: partner up with someone, and oppose your partner’s vote.
“I’d love it if it came down to one person’s decision,” he laughed.
Of course, it is a funny thought, even though it would take a lot of people, considering we’re talking about the population of Australia over eighteen who is an Australian citizen here.
Looking at it on a smaller scale… I remember trying out for prefect in high school. I was just one person out of about thirty candidates. (Mind you, I never got voted in for prefect, even if they chose a whole third of the candidates.) I asked my friends to please include me in their votes. They could choose up to ten people, meaning they could choose less people if they so wished.
A friend told me afterwards that he didn’t vote for some of the “popular” people, or people who were very likely to get in.
“Why?” I asked.
“Because they will already get a lot of votes because they’re popular. If I voted for them, I would only be increasing their chances.”
I slapped myself after that. I know sometimes we can rig the system for our own benefit, but all in all – your vote counts. Your voice counts. You are important. 8D

Except… yeah… I’m over it now.
(I don’t know why I find that amusing, haha). But yeah, as your friend said, everyone would vote for the popular people. I only vote for the popular people if I really do think that they’d be good at whatever I’m voting for, be it Bitchiest Girl in Class or form leader or whatever.
I always find it important to credit for inspiration. Especially when it looks quite similar, and people can accuse me of stealing. 
that’s quite an extreme thing to do when you’re bored… counting hairs >.>
:X:X:X:X:X:X:X
USE IT! It always works because there isn't really a comeback they can use back at it. Well I haven't heard one anyways..
I don’t really see the point in me voting when there’s so many other people who are interested in and know about politics.
. I liked the conrast in ‘vintage-ish’ and ‘new-ish,’ but I did wonder if maybe it looked a bit strange; however, the banner I had up a couple of days ago looked more like a mess lol. I like your layout though: pretty and simple.
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Lilian
17th July 2010 at 11:32 pm
Hello!
Yes, it is election time and I am excited because I, like you am voting for the very first time
And also because I am so voting for Australia’s first female prime minister! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
Ordinarily I wouldn’t care about politics cos it sucks, but since we have our first female prime minister I’m voting for Labor. Hahaha. I know I’m lame and superficial, but I do not care!
Hahaha, voting is kind of stupid when you think of it. One tiny vote doesn’t really give you a say in what policies our government develops, which is the whole point of a democracy. Everyone’s supposed to have a say. How does having one vote achieve that when all that votes is going to do is decide whether you’re going to be counted amongst a huge group of people who DIDN’T want this government to be in office or the other bigger group who DID want the government to be in office.
And what about the people who voted AGAINST the government? Doesn’t that mean that their vote hasn’t really given them a say in anything because they don’t have a choice but to abide by the laws that the government they DIDN’T want has put in.
Stupid, huh?
LOL, James’ idea is HILARIOUS. And totally random. Hahahahaha! I would so do that if Julia Gillard wasn’t PM
(I’m sorry, but I LOVE the idea of a female PM. More power to us! RAWR!)
Omg, yeah…that prefect thing…voting for TEN people. I totally forgot about that
Hahahaha. That’s a smart way to look at it. We should have both voted for all the unpopular people
Oh well.
REPLY:
I know! Like, who CARES if you’re fat or thin. NO-ONE. But yet we live in a society where there is so much emphasis on body-image.
A WATER BABY! Hahahaha. I love that term. Don’t worry, I don’t notice your stomach getting bigger
Oh god. Sit ups. I think I remember doing five sit ups and not being able to laugh the next day cos my muscles all seized up
I’m so unfit.
Hahaha! I’m only 5.5cm shorter than James! If I wear my heels I get to be taller
HILARIOUS. And actually, it is rather hard hugging tall people
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