
Australian newspaper asks readers not to draw penii on ballot papers - empressplay
http://www.theage.com.au/comment/dont-be-a-donkey-join-in-our-democracy-20160630-gpvvz2.html
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jhanschoo
I'll be that person. The plural of "penis" is "penises" in English. An
alternative plural for the English word "penis" comes from Latin, the language
the word is borrowed from, and it is written "penes", since the word is, in
Latin, of the 3rd declension, and hence takes the plural ending "-es".

Words in Latin that end in "-i" in the plural are of the 2nd declension. Hence
the status of the word "penii" as a plural for "penis" exists only as a
hypercorrection
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypercorrection](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypercorrection).

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igravious
I venture that penii was used either for its amusement factor or to avoid
saying penises which contains the word penis which is a socially embarrassing
word. :) But 10/10 for being that person, thank you for being that person.

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davidlumley
Drawing a penis on a ballot paper is frustrating for people who actually care
about the country – you've registered to vote so perhaps you could have spent
5 minutes becoming informed, and then making a proper vote rather than drawing
a penis and rendering your vote informal (i.e. not counted).

That said it's infinitely better than donkey voting which is a more serious
issue that plagues our elections.

A donkey vote is when someone numbers their preferences from top to bottom, or
bottom to top on the ballot paper. This is considered a formal vote, and your
paper will affect the results. Positions on the ballot paper are randomised to
try and reduce this as much as possible.

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gravypod
Wait, what? Is it mandatory to vote in Australia?

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Khaine
Kinda. The requirement is for the person to enroll, attend a polling station
and have their name marked off the electoral roll as attending, receive a
ballot paper and take it to an individual voting booth, mark it, fold the
ballot paper and place it in the ballot box. The act does not explicitly state
that a choice must be made, it only states that the ballot paper be 'marked'.
According to the act how a person marks the paper is completely up to the
individual.

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gravypod
Well, I'd definitely draw 'inappropriate things' if I was forced to do it.

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davidlumley
It's not compulsory to register to vote.

edit: apologies, that's completely incorrect.

While it is compulsory, you are incredibly unlikely to be fined for not
registering. The AEC typically sends a reminder every few years if they have
information on your residential address from another government agency.

Once you are enrolled though, if you fail to vote at an election you will be
asked to explain your absence and, without a satisfactory excuse, fined.

It looks like the AEC now has the power to automatically enrol you too.

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imron
From the Australian Electoral Commission's website:
[http://www.aec.gov.au/enrol/](http://www.aec.gov.au/enrol/)

\--

It is compulsory by law for all eligible Australian citizens to enrol and vote
in federal elections, by-elections and referendums.

You are eligible to enrol if you:

    
    
        * are an Australian citizen, or eligible British subject,
        * aged 18 years and over, and
        * have lived at your address for at least one month.

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jhfebebw
Interesting, I've never seen this spelling of "enrol" before.

I would also draw penii if voting was compulsory.

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imron
Australia uses British English, and enrol is the British spelling.

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gravypod
Ah, the joys of localization.

