Nov 27 2007
Cost of Federal Elections
Is it just me or is there a crazy amount of money wasted spent on elections?
Consider the cost of the 2004 Federal Election:
$117 million, give or take.
The 2007 election is predicted to eclipse that by a long way, especially if the advertising estimate of $60 million is correct.
And what’s with all that paper? All those how to vote sheets. O.K. so you take one from a few different parties (you know it’s supposed to be a secret ballot – you can’t just walk in with one – deadset give away). Why can’t there just be a table on the way out with piles for each party? So they can be reused. Or are we concerned people might deface them?
And do we really need a five foot long piece of paper so that what, 80%? of people, can enter a number “1” into one of the boxes.
Not to mention all the pre-election propaganda which inevitably goes straight in the (recycle) bin.
How hard would it be to develop a tamper-proof website that allows us to vote online? They trust us to do the Census online, and taxes online, why not to vote?
It’s estimated 13.6 million Australians were enrolled to vote in this election (so what’s that – around $100 for every person who votes?) and, at last official count in April 2006, 60% of households have access to the internet at home. Wouldn’t it make sense to be able to do it online? Reduce paper wastage, printing and employee expenses.
Or maybe I’m just being utopian….
20 Responses to “Cost of Federal Elections”
Oooh Meg’s getting controversial again :p
Firstly with the how to vote slips, they are recycled on the day from the bin, every hour someone goes through, sorts them out then hands them back to the relevant parties, and at the end of the day they’re all recycled.
But with almost everything else I agree. Of course, I had the same argument with Hubby the other night. I said every time I check the weather I have Kevin or Johnny talking to me. He reckons the only way to reach the masses is TV. I disagree cause I don’t watch enough. Then he said that I’m abnormal. I scoffed at his inability to watch more than one advertisement in a row. Then I slept on the couch. Sigh.
In the grand scheme of things though, I feel a few hundred million dollars a small price to pay for democracy
Kin – oh good, hate to think they printed 13 million of each “how to vote” slip. LOL – I agree with you, I hardly watch any tv, and I live with a channel surfer who can’t sit through ads as well. In the rare event that we do watch ads, I just tune the political ones out anyway.
It would just be nice if we could tighten up on all the wastage.
The question is not whether the government trusts us to do taxes and census online but whether you trust them not to “lose” or change your vote like the American experience
See:
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0307/S00065.htm
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/11717105/robert_f_kennedy_jr__will_the_next_election_be_hacked/print
http://www.motherjones.com/commentary/columns/2004/03/03_200.html
http://www.wired.com/politics/security/news/2005/12/69893
http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/fresh-study-still-finds-diebold-e-voting-machines-hacker-frien/
http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2006/09/13/diebold/index_np.html
I have to agree – I feel sick at all the paper usage for an election.
I don’t understand why they can’t have 1 copy of each parties “how to vote” pinned up in each little voting booth thingy. DH says that would be “advertising” though. And I guess it would be hard to pick who gets to go where – prime positioning and all that guff. *sigh* Interesting figures. I had no idea it was that expensive. Not that I’m surprised.
Talking about waste – the electoral office sent me a form to change our address. I remember doing it!!!! When we got there – our old address is still on the electoral roll!!! Aaaahhhhhh!!!!! Still, we didn’t move areas so in the scheme of things it’s not that important….just annoying because I did the right thing (so I thought) for a change instead of being too lazy….
I agree with Neerav – And we don’t want anything like “chats”!
The Federal Election is the biggest public event in Australia so it’s going to cost a few bob.
I think it is the price we pay for democracy and I for one want the option to vote below the line.
However that’s not to say we couldn’t be creative… maybe you could get a choice to take a small or large senate paper tending on your preference to vote above or below the line?
Maybe we could regulate the size of the How-to-Vote cards?
Like you, I take every one – so that they don’t know how I vote – and I hand them back rather than putting them in the recycle bin – I want to make sure they’re recycled!
And I think the mail-outs could be banned. How much do we get? Even in my electorate where there is a 14% margin our letterbox was overflowing.
CB x
Utopian is good. I will join you there Meg because there’s no intelligent and sustainable life on political street. Beam me up Scotty (did you know that’s the most used phrase? Well, I like trivia).
I do like the online option but also share a conspiracy concern with Neerav and CB – they tell lies because they are politicians, why would I trust them with my data – at least scrutineers aren’t politicians.
However, the cost of advertising and tricking us into thinking we have original thought and choice makes me wild. Money marketing (in contrast to laundering) sells the party, not the policies.
I like democracy, I want democracy but I also want a sustainable earth and future. I don’t have the answers (hmp – I’m not a politician am I!) Meg but I sure wish someone did. I would for once make like a sheep and follow.
Like you, I am not a TV watcher (hate it), but, we did had an indoor picnic in front of election night coverage. I saw too many posters and stickers made from material that was probably not recycled and would not be recycled – that’s why we have elections though, to recycle Aussie thoughts, values and beliefs – even with a change, there’s not a lot new.
I did under grad politics. I once had a fancy to be a pollie or diplomat. As I grew up and firmed my values, I realised that truth and sustainability were very important to me. Now I’m a social worker instead!
Cellobella our electorate was a 13% margin and the National member lost her seat. Convincingly. Mind you I didn’t get any mail out from the guy that one until after I’d voted LOL.
I think in my campaign that personally engaging people and handing out leaflets in person eg: at train stations was far more effective than letterboxing leaflets mixed in with all the direct mail rubbish that is already in people’s mail boxes
Also I’m not that happy with all the paper and printing cost in $ and to the environment from handing out how to votes on election day but on the other hand I agree with Lightening’s friend DH that putting up a sample of each would be have its own problems
Also reducing the size of the senate voting sheet and only allowing people to put 1 for their favoured party wouldn’t be fair because some parties have very strange preference deals
Eg: the “Climate Change Coalition” preferenced Pauline Hanson above Labor in Queensland, and One Nation then Family First above the Greens and Labor in WA for which Dr Karl (their 2nd candidate for NSW) has lost my respect
More reading:
http://www.newmatilda.com/election07/index.php/2007/11/23/before-the-day-after-tomorrow-ccc-preferences-to-the-far-right/
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22721789-5014047,00.html
http://www.getup.org.au/blogs/view.php?id=592
I made my decision before Election Day, didn’t take any how to vote cards and changed the channel whenever one of the pollie ads were on.
Guess my hundred bucks was wasted.
Yeah, I have nothing of substance to add. Just wanted to say thanks Meg for putting that little smiley on cause it reminded me that I want to put that cutie you gave me on my blog!
I’m guessing that the $10m advertising in 2004 is the AEC’s costs not the party advertising which is what the $60m is for this time around. The party expenses are partly funded by the $42m in public funding which is paid to them on a per vote basis.
Also, $117m divided by 13.6m voters is more like $8.60 per voter rather than $100.
(I’m an accountant … so have to get the numbers right).
I’ve thought like you that some sort of online voting surely must be feasible. In fact we’ve had some electronic voting here in ACT elections, but you still have to go to a polling place and use their computers.
Actually Ian the amount per vote is appx $2.10 for this 2007 Federal election as I explain at My Experience as a Candidate at Federal and State Elections
Neerav – many thanks for the links
Lightening – good idea, but as you say I’d would be a fight for prime position. Still if they rotated them in every booth so that each one got a turn, couldn’t that work?
CB – hehe – I read about how you had to redo yours, and I’m not suggesting that we take that option away, but surely they have to have a vague idea of what % do fill in the whole section & cater for that. I have handed the sheets back in the past, but then I just figured they’re not likely to run out right? But I’m happy to know that sort through the recycle bin.
Megan – thanks for your thoughts. I get frustrated because the ads just pick on an element, sensationalise it & then play on FUD. And you see them OVER and OVER and I barely watch! I know what a prime time advertising spot costs…. Still, TV ad execs must have been gleefully rubbing their hands together.
Kin – LOL proof that that campaign was redundant.
Neerav #2 – absolutely agree it needs to be an option, but perhaps cater to those who just want a short form.
Kelley – $10 my typo 😳 Funny, I always think of you now when I use the smileys!
Ian – ah, thanks for the clarification re the costing, and also for picking up the typo (seems I’m better at accounting than typing 😉 ). I was rounding up to $10 because the costs seem to rise each election (and thinking that $60m would be factored in). If it would save a few trees, and money I’d still be happy to go there to vote – I’m not THAT lazy!
Regarding “How hard would it be to develop a tamper-proof website that allows us to vote online?”
What Neerav points out is sort of correct.
No one will accept a system that is not completely transparent, and is able to be audited to ensure that votes are correct and valid.
No one will accept a system that will allow you to identify whom made a specific vote.
As a software developer, I know that these are two goals that are very difficult to design for simultaniously in an all-electronic system.
The e-Tax solution is tracable directly to you and fully auditable. The e-census application is based on the handing out of paper slips, which have a unique ID on them (tied back to a very small locality, with records of whom handed them out)
The vast majority of e-voting systems are very insecure (relying on trust, for the most part, that someone won’t do something wrong) – either in terms of software design, or physical considerations.
A possible solution is for the voting folks to validate (“sign”) and hand out slips of paper with a password/key so you can then e-vote. That still leaves you with printing a ton of wasted bits of paper.
So, once you’ve got some system design that can satisfy both those design goals, you then have to ensure that the code itself counts the votes correctly.
Given how much security and auditing would be around this, that makes the job of ensuring the results are valid significantly harder.
Then – you have to ensure the interface itself is very easy to use, for people of all walks of life.
I’m with you Meg, online voting. That money could be spent educating the older generation in how to use and access the Internet.
We could vote on a number of things online. We could do away with politicians altogether and commit to voting on everything online. Participatory democracy – I wonder what that would look like?
Want to pass a bill? Online vote of entire country – imagine that!
Probably have to wait a few generations though because there are so many technophobes and people without access to technology right now.
So here we are in 2007 and we STILL maintain a system which is as old as our constitution. What a crock!
Electronic voting CAN work if it was designed to work. The introduction of severe mandatory prison terms for election fraud would be one way of taking the incentive out attempting to interfere with the system.
You can say what you like about recycling but the fact remains that we use an obscene amount of paper and plastic at election time. Not just Federal mind you, but state and local as well.
Why can’t I log into a secure website and cast my vote.
And if I don’t have a computer why cant I use a touch screen (in the language of my choice) in the polling booth.
Why is spam illegal yet I can receive over 40 different items in my mail box telling me to vote for this or that party or candidate. And YES I do have a ‘No Junk Mail” sticker on my letterbox.
The very fact that you are reading this means that you have access to the internet. How many other Australian’s also have the same access.
For those of you who have blogs or websites, what a bonus it would be if the big spending political parties paid you to run a banner on your site instead of paying to have big plastic signs nailed to every roadside pole.
If pollies knew that the majority of voters would be voting online then their online advertising spend would increase as would the Aust Electoral Office’s online ad budget, and the amount of paper used would decrease.
Online voting definitely has it’s merits, but think of the little old ladies that bake so many cakes and cookies for sale at your local voting centre! What will they do? How will they raise those much needed funds for the church / community hall / school / etc.
Actually I’m mostly just disgusted with the amount of paper that is wasted in the lead-up and on the day…
Wonder how much they spent on myspace, youtube, facebook, any other social networking marketing??
$10 – $20 per elector for one of the world’s cleanest, fairest and peaceful elections is a bargain.
Yes it can be even better – less paper, less ads, less bulls**t.
But –
bodycount=0
Politicians jailed=0
Car bombs =0
Drive-by shootings=0
Riots=0
And all that with a change of government! You gotta luv it!
Will – I was going to debate the pros and cons, but then I figured a tech type would come along and point them out (thanks!)
Joh – I’m guessing “participatory democracy” would look something like this!
http://www.senatoronline.org.au/
FB – I think the other commenters have done a good job of highlighting the downfalls, but I agree it would be good.
Matt – and the sausage sizzles! Still I don’t think it would form a HUGE part of their revenue. I agree it would be interesting to see how much more was spent online this election.
Mark – yes, for that we should be thankful!
Me trying to provide decent coverage of the major challenges facing internet voting at 1:30am is not the best idea.
They’re not insurmountable obstacles, but given the tendancy of government agency run projects, there’s a very good chance it’ll run well over time and budget, and fail to meet many of the key design goals.
Excuse my pessimism
Will – you’re excused. I always appreciate your input 😀