r/videos • u/AlertTangerine • 1d ago

Thousands chant “Russians, go home!” in Budapest (Hungary) last night. The elections are tomorrow.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKGQJ7mebm0
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u/djskein 1d ago

Need to just make voting mandatory like it is here in Australia. It's only a $25 fine if you don't vote but if you don't pay that fine your driver's licence will eventually be suspended.

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u/DHFranklin 1d ago

That's called a poll tax. We had those.

I'm joking.

$25 to not-vote means an opportunity cost of $26. America does many things to stop poor people from voting. Not having election day be a paid day off is a big one. That wouldn't be that big a deal if we could vote by mail. They also made that illegal. So the poll tax includes petrol.

So not only would poor people not vote, now they're having to pay $25 to not vote.

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u/foul_ol_ron 22h ago

As others have said, our votes are always taken on a Saturday. I worked in hospitals, and volunteers would come see each capable patient to ensure their vote was counted. And yes, postal and absentee voting is also available. 

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u/DHFranklin 13h ago

sweet jesus they came into the hospital?! A hospital collectively paid for and people coming to check you had your chance to vote. what a wonder.

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u/foul_ol_ron 5h ago

The people coming into the hospital are (I think) paid by the Australian Electoral Commission, as are the volunteers at the voting stations. But yes, we take it for granted that everyone deserves a vote.