Foolestroupe - I'd be interested in knowing if the compulsory voting in Australia does anything to encourage people to look into issues, and inform themselves as to what is really going on. In America--and I know other people feel this way too--we have large numbers of people who have no idea what's happening in the world, and could care less. It's even scarier to think of these people actually casting ballots, then if they just by-passed the election all together.

             By the way, I'm registered Green in the US, and my party nominated a woman this year who devotes all of her energy to causes that have little to do with the Green agenda at all. I don't find that very encouraging.