I can vote in both Australia and New Zealand and my answers are different for some questions, so I've marked them A and NZ.
1. Do you vote? If so, do you vote in both primary and general elections?
Do you cast ballots in local as well as national elections?
A: Voting is compulsory in Australia for federal, state, and local government (though I believe in some local areas - not mine - the laws have been relaxed a bit, and in general they aren't enforced as stringently as state and federal elections). So yes, I vote. The more relevant question to ask Australians is whether they vote above or below the line in their state and federal upper houses - and, in states where preferencing is merely optional (not mine), whether they preference. I'm somewhat of an election junkie in the sense that I vote below the line and thoroughly enjoy it.
NZ: Voting is voluntary. I vote in national elections. I have never voted for a local council or district health board - I haven't lived on the Kapiti Coast since I was a kid, so it's simply not relevant to me and I don't feel like I have much to contribute by voting. New Zealand's local authorities have very limited powers anyway. I get sent material with blurbs from the candidates, but they are always just "I have lived on the Kapiti Coast for a lot of years and I love this community and I want to do the best for it" without giving any specifics of what they will do or how they will achieve it. If somebody really leapt out at me and I thought they'd do great things for Kapiti, then yes I would vote for them.
2. Are you influenced (positively or negatively) by political ads?
Not really. I think if you're rather interested in politics, you already have established views and standpoints, and you'll be able to pick the spin or omissions in most ads.
3. What makes you vote for someone from another party?
I vote for whichever party is closest to my social democrat views. For all of my adult life, that has been the Green parties in both countries, though in New Zealand for my local seat I vote for Labour (see #6). I have considered preferencing other small left-wing parties ahead of the Greens in Australia but have not done so to date.
4. Do you vote differently in a local election than you do in a national
election?
No. Where I live in Melbourne is a total Green/Labour stronghold anyway. Few right-wing candidates even come forward. I'm not sure if there were any at all in my ward last time around. I recall joking that there was nobody for the few remaining racist old people in Brunswick to vote for.
5. Do you try to influence the way someone else votes?
I suppose I do, what with blogging about each election.
6. Do you consider voting for the person you most want to win even
though he/she doesn’t have a prayer of winning a waste of your vote?
A: Irrelevant question thanks to the joys of preferential voting, where if your first choice doesn't win your vote just flows on to your second, and so on.
NZ: Under MMP, you vote for a party list (so you tick the party you support) and for your local seat (via first-past-the-post). I vote for the party I support most on the list, but for my local seat that's purely a race between Labour and National. There's always a Green candidate but they never get much of the vote, so I go Labour. New Zealand Labour is more left-wing than their Australian counterpart anyway, which makes the decision less difficult for me.
7. How often do you regret a vote you have cast?
Hasn't happened yet.
8. Which of the branches (or subbranches) of government do you put the
most faith in (if any) and why?
Well, I've got a little more faith in Australian federal government than some of our crackpot states that are prone to lengthy periods of one-party rule - especially you, Queensland.
9. Do newspaper endorsements have any relevance now?
I would not discount the influence of the media in Australia, especially when ownership is very heavily concentrated (Newscorp own roughly two-thirds of our newspapers, and only Sydney and Melbourne have competing dailies, giving other cities a very mono-political press landscape).
10. Who was the first head of state candidate for whom you voted? Was it
with enthusiasm?
Well we don't vote for the head of state in our parliamentary constitutional monarchical system, but in terms of who formed government:
NZ: In 2005 I was happy to vote for a local member from Labour and help Helen Clark's government maintain power.
A: In 2007 my preferences flowed on to Labour, and I was thrilled to see Kevin Rudd oust John Howard.
11. Who was the last? Was it with enthusiasm?
NZ: The 2011 election was such a non-event. Everyone knew John Key would stay in power. I did my bit to try to oust him, but no luck; the whole thing felt like just going through the motions. It was the least enthusiastic I have ever felt about about an election, though I was rather enthusiastic about the good Green list result. Looking forward to this year's election and the possibility Key might lose.
A: I was very enthusiastic about trying to stop Tony Abbott last year. I was more enthused about trying to stop the Libs than keeping Rudd in power. No such luck though.
12. How value do you place in the real power of the vote other than
symbolic? Does your vote count? Has your impression of the value
of voting changed for you?
Eh... I'm registered in very safe Labour seats for both Australia and New Zealand (I fall just outside a swing seat in NZ). I'm sure I'd place more value if I were in a tight seat. In Australia, I see my Senate vote as more important because of the opportunity to get a Green Senator elected in Victoria. Fell narrowly short in 2007 and 2010 but successful in 2013. In Victorian state elections, my seat might fall from Labour to Green this time around, so we'll see how that goes. My impression of the value of voting has changed a fair bit in realising just how agonisingly uneducated so many voters are, not even understanding how the preferential system works or what the parties stand for.
13. Other than voting , do you participate in civic activity? If so, do you
consider yourself an activist? Have you ever held elected office? Do
you write to elected officials/newspapers etc.? Do you protest?
Campaign for people? How do you exert your influence? What's
your style?
I'm a lazy prick who spends too much time ranting about stuff online and too little time doing anything meaningful.