Thanks Lighter.

One of the pitfalls I have noticed with non-compulsory voting is that a lot of people need to be motivated to go to the polls and make a choice but are dissuaded by either negative media coverage or social media campaigns, or by the difficulty of voting mid week for people who are not able to lose time at work (i.e. read between the lines, people who have lower incomes and less power in their workplaces). Our voting is on Saturdays and we have had postal pre-voting in place for decades.

In Oz, we always have one or the other of the two major parties in power, but the minor parties who have members elected tend to have a chance to keep the major parties a bit more honest and on track. That works especially well when the party in power is teetering on the brink, with a very small majority. They need the negotiating power of collaborating with minor parties then. (Although, having said that, we do have a couple of nutjob minor parties and most major parties would rather jump off a cliff than negotiate with them, IMHO.)

"..electoral college, its flaws are becoming ever more obvious. I doubt much will be done about it in the so-called "foreseeable" future.."

I'm guessing it's in the same "too-hard basket" as firearm reforms. :-D