Kikapu wrote:Paphitis wrote:I’m a bit of a naughty boy.
I did something borderline illegal. I declared myself a permanent US Resident (I have the paperwork and approvals) in order to get off the Aussie Electoral Roll as I don’t want to vote anymore.
It’s illegal in Australia to not vote. But I got struck off successfully as of today.
So I’m officially a US Resident now as far as the Electiral Commission is concerned. No more voting and no fines or court appearance for not doing so.
Reason: I see it as pointless and I can’t in all consciousness offer my support to people who do not inspire me abd who are there for the wrong reasons. Democracy has taken a big hit globally and I won’t participate in any illusions. More people should protest.
So if I go to jail, I might not be able to post for a while.
I do have permanent US Resudency but I haven’t left yet because of COVID.
Oh dear, sounds like you have walked into a minefield with this one.
Let see. You live in Australia, you work in Australia, you pay taxes in Australia, you have a home in Australia, your kids go to school in Australia and the Electoral Commission accepted your US permanent residency status to get out of voting? Since voting is compulsory in AU, do you not think there are cross checks between the AU Tax and Social services and the election commission? OK!
No apparently no cross checks for tax purposes and things like that because there are people in Oz who never registered to vote and will never register and the electoral commission doesn’t check with the tax office.
Or rather the tax office doesn’t divulge this level of information to an electoral commission.
Plus they already checked my paperwork and I do have permanent residency with the US because they haven’t told me anything different yet.
I was just looking for a loop hole and it looks like I found one. I know someone who was a US resident but returned recently and has no intention of informing the electoral commission that they now reside in Australia. If he says nothing, he will just not be on the electoral roll and won’t be able to vote and he doesn’t want to either so we have been comparing notes.
The only other ways are to drop dead or say you are of unsound mind with a certificate from the doctor.
But I do see your point. There is a possibility they will find out m in Australia and pursue me. I’ll be fined. But I doubt it’s that important to them. There are a million people like this they could pursue but they don’t.
The only reason why I’m doing it is only because I feel better about it as I don’t want to vote for idiots anymore. A protest if you like. But I’m aware I will never make a difference and it’s futile.
