Erin Molan: Voting is a privilege, don’t take it for granted

Your vote is one of the great rights you have as a citizen — so before you enter the ballot box on May 21, give some thought to who you’re choosing, writes Erin Molan.

I have a friend. She’s 40, successful and single and, without sounding too crass, she loves to “mingle”. She views dating as a serious business.

She invests as much time into the art of meeting the right man as she does into the progression of her career, a 22-year stint in a major finance firm where she’s now inhabiting a rather large corner office.

She’s on all the dating apps and when she likes what she sees, she “swipes right” (the “positive” response on Tinder, I’m told … swiping left is apparently “rejection”).

If the feeling is mutual she locks in a date for the week ahead. She’s not playing hard to get or trying to appear busy. It’s because she needs time to research.

The next few days are spent stalking. She will google, read, research and scroll every possible site where he rates a mention. She’d be able to tell you what his aunty’s husband wore at her mother’s 80th seven years ago and what his second cousin had removed from his foot in 1998 (a nail by the way). She does her due diligence — and then some.

Erin Molan wishes Australians spent as much time researching who they will vote for as they do in choosing who to date.

She was exactly the same when it came to buying a car last year. The links she shared in our group text were more punishing and prolific than the 10 daily videos I send of my three-year-old daughter dancing.

Then came the YouTube videos and the Facebook post of that time this one guy in 2012 bought a second-hand version and it had caught fire.

This week I asked her how she was going to vote. Which party’s policies so far during this campaign had resonated with her more? Which way she was leaning?

Her response, and I promise I’m not using any creative licence, here: “I haven’t read a word and couldn’t care less.’’

Why do so many smart, rational, impressive people not particularly care about things that will impact every area of their life … but care so deeply about things that might seem less significant?

Now I’m not naive enough to believe that everyone follows this stuff like some of us in the media do, nor do I believe that everyone should dedicate hours a day to informing themselves on politics. Plenty of it is mind numbingly boring and, to be honest, at times fairly disheartening.

But what I now lament is someone not wanting to use powerfully one of the greatest rights we have in this country – voting.

Columnist Erin Molan. Picture: Justin Lloyd

There are plenty of places around the world where even the notion of democracy is so foreign it feels like a Hollywood movie. The opportunity to cast a vote and have your say on who runs this country is a privilege.

You don’t need to be an expert but if you care about the values and standards in the society your children will grow up in, if you care about how much you’re paying on your mortgage and the cost of living, if you care about having hospitals that function, and if you care about waking up every morning in a country that isn’t at war, then you should spend just a little bit of time looking at what’s at stake and where you stand.

It doesn’t have to be now. The night before you cast your vote is fine.

Just do a little bit of work so that when you go to number these little boxes on May 21, you are doing so as an informed citizen. The rest of the country is relying on you.

I sought the opinion of Professor Robert Hoffmann, a behavioural economist at RMIT, and the first thing he said to me was “this is my favourite topic — the psychology of politics.’’

Now aside from thinking Robert needs to get out more, he’s the perfect person to shed light on why my friend isn’t alone in her attitude towards this election.

He says people have two modes of thinking – fast and slow.

When we think slowly and deliberately about politics or how to vote, the mentality is generally “my vote isn’t likely to make any difference’’.

He continues: “Economists call this the ‘public good problem’. People want everyone else to vote and to then ‘free ride’ on their civic duty.”

Professor Hoffman continues bluntly: “A rational voter doesn’t research policies because often they cannot find a party they like.”

What if we are in quick, automatic thinking mode on election day?

“You vote according to political ‘tastes’ that are not down to research but your upbringing and, believe it not, also your genes. Like food preferences or a favourite NRL team.

“Fast-thinking people also follow their habits — who they have voted for before or who their friends might be voting for.”

What about those rare few who might change their habit?

“Those who do change their voting patterns generally do so for more emotional reasons or instinctively, whether they like the candidate or not, so not research but likability and attractiveness, which takes mere seconds to assess.”

Now this isn’t written from a pedestal. I’ve been absolutely guilty of casting an uninformed vote in the past, but this time I implore you, join me in making our vote count.

Whichever direction you take, do it knowing that you understand the basic aspects of the plan they have for our future and that you have judged it in your best interests and hopefully in the best interests of the majority of Australians as well.

This isn’t always easy — some of those trying to secure our vote aren’t always upfront regarding what they want to do and that’s if they even know themselves.

Others have 12 different versions of the same policy, but do your best.

There’s no opportunity to “swipe left” the following week if you don’t like the outcome, so this fabulous democracy of ours is way too important to take lightly.

Originally published as Erin Molan: Voting is a privilege, don’t take it for granted