So, the election is tomorrow. You’ve done your reading. You’ve maybe even listened to a few Eurovision songs along the way. With luck, you have at least some idea who you are going to vote for.
There are two things I want to write about today.
The first is just to touch on how incredibly fortunate we are in our electoral system. I’ve been corresponding with a friend in the US recently, and she mentioned in passing that she was in Australia during an election a few years ago and she couldn’t believe how many places there were that you could vote. Airports! Hospitals! Mobile polling booths that go to aged care facilities and remote communities! Coming from a country where restricting access to the ballot box is an actual strategy for one of their major parties, it was a revelation.
I write about our Australian Electoral Commission at almost every election, because it is a national treasure and we are so lucky to have it. I think, though, that I’m going to just cheat this time and link you to my last post on the subject rather than writing a new one, because I just did a count and I’ve already written more than 140,000 words in this electoral cycle and I’ll be honest with you, I’m tired and I have a Eurovision party to bake for.
Also, there’s something else I really want to talk about in this post, and that’s about numbering all the boxes on your Senate Ballot, whether you opt for voting above or below the line.
