At the 17th of October election, people will need to vote on a few things.
First of all, of course, they will need to vote for a new government. Each person gets two votes: one vote for a local representative, and one vote for a political party.
This year, we will also have to vote on two referendum questions. A referendum is a kind of vote about a topic. The votes of the people in a referendum will help to guide the government in making new laws. This year, we will have a referendum on euthanasia and cannabis. Our next article will be about the cannabis referendum, and this article will tell you more about the euthanasia question.
The referendum will ask voters:
“Do you support the End of Life Choice Act 2019 coming into force?” and the possible answers will be “yes” or “no”.
The End of life Choice Act is a proposed law that has been passed by parliament, but it will only become a law if more than 50% of people vote “yes”.
If the act becomes law it means that adults who have a terminal illness can get medicine to help them die sooner and with less pain. For example, if someone is dying from a very painful disease, people might secretly let them have too much medicine so that they can die more quickly and with less pain. The Assisted Dying act would allow people to do this openly and more easily.
Vocabulary:
election: an event where people vote for a new government
vote: when each person says what they want, so that the choices of everyone can be counted and a decision be made based on what the majority of people want.
local representative: a person who speaks for the people in a region
political party: a group of people who wish to form a government
act: a law
passed: approved
terminal illness: a sickness that leads to death
allow: let
secretly: in secret
openly: not in secret
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