The following email was sent to my by a friend. I doublechecked on snopes.com the veracity - it is true.

Although it is specific to the American female population, regardless of nation the message is the same.

WHY WOMEN SHOULD VOTE

This is the story of our Grandmothers and Great-grandmothers; they lived only 90 years ago.

Remember, it was not until 1920 that women were granted the right to go to the polls and vote.

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Tap, I agree that everybody should vote. The actual voter turnout rate disgusts me. The majority of Americans are too apathetic to vote....but then whine about who gets elected.

This is one of the things I like better about our system in Aus, than the US one. Voting is compulsory here, and you must register at 18. I know a lot of Americans view that as an imposition upon their freedoms, but I just don't see it that way. To me, voting is not a privilege, not even a right, it is a civic duty that all functioning adult members of society are obliged to do as part of their contribution to the community. It's like paying taxes or jury duty.

One advantage this gives us is that the electoral rolls here are far more stable and better maintained than in countries with non-compulsory voting. I'm sure there are minor incidents of voting shenanigans and gerrymandering does occur, but we don't get the scandals associated with ballot box stuffing that have poisoned the last few US elections. The rolls are too well known and established for any party to get away with that on a large scale.

The other advantage is that everyone HAS to take at least some form of responsibility for the government we have. We may not get the government that we personally chose, but at least we know we got the government that the country as a whole chose, not just a small segment of it.

Edited September 27, 200817 yr by Fanny Adams