Susanna Freymark
There is a story I’ve been told that could be true, or it could be an urban myth but it illustrates the egalitarianism of voting.
One election day, at the (insert school name) polling station, there was a queue for the barbecue.
In the queue was Bob Hawke holding his slice of white bread, waiting for a sausage. He didn’t expect to be served before anyone else despite being a former prime minister.
The person telling this story said they couldn’t imagine something like this happening in America. They saw Australian election days as a place where no matter who you were, you were simply another person with one vote that counted.
Who knows if this story about Hawke (or was it Whitlam?) is true or not, it’s what I like about election day whether it be federal, state or the local government.
There’s something exciting about voting on the same day as everyone else.
It is democracy in action — helped along by the humble sausage sanga.
The NSW Electoral commission is predicting this year, less people will be at the voting booths as more use postal, iVotes and pre-polling.
In the upcoming council elections, the commission is predicting 5% of votes across the state will be postal, this equates to 250,000 people. iVotes are expected to be done by 5% of the population.
At least 30% of people are expected to pre-poll. This equates to 1.4million people.
In the last state election almost 22% of people went for pre-polling.
The NSW Electoral Commission said even before covid, prepolling numbers were on the rise.
Each day the number of votes will be counted by the electoral commission so by the end of the week there will be a clearer picture of how many people are voting before December 4.
I’ll be eagerly waiting for Saturday’s voting day and for my official democracy sausage sanga.
All pre-poll locations for early voting are open until December 3, Monday to Saturday, 9am to 5pm.
Kyogle
Kyogle Memorial Institute Hall, 6-8 Stratheden Street, Kyogle. Wheelchair accessible.
Lismore Returning Officers’ Office: 125 Woodlark Street, Lismore. Wheelchair accessible.
Richmond Valley
Casino Community and Cultural Centre, 35 Walker Street, Casino. Wheelchair accessible.
Evans Head Library, 19-25 Woodburn Street, Evans Head. Wheelchair accessible.
and then