What many Australians do not find fair is being forced to number every box on a ballot paper, including having to choose between the final two candidates when they may strongly reject both.

Under compulsory preferential voting, you are required to help decide between parties you may equally oppose. For many One Nation voters, the Greens and Labor are two toxic and repulsive choices. In inner city contests it often comes down to exactly that choice. Greens or Labor.

Being compelled to direct your vote to one of them, even if it is your last preference, means your ballot ultimately lands in a pile that helps elect a party you fundamentally disagree with. That does not sit right with a lot of people.

An optional preferential voting system allows Australians to rank only the parties they genuinely support. If there are parties they consider equally toxic, they can simply leave them off. Their vote would not be used to prop up someone they reject.

That is fair. That respects voter intent. That is democracy. Democracy should not be about making a choice between who they dislike the most. For many people, being forced into that position actually turns them off democratic participation.