I did this morning. I’m going to be in Brisbane over the weekend so it was much easier to do a pre-poll vote. Obviously I wasn’t the only one with the same thought. It was pretty chaotic when I went to the pre-polling booth at the Town Hall.
And for NSW voters: there are 79 candidates on the Senate ballot paper, just in case you’re considering the below the line option. A few “interesting” minor parties have popped up this time round. There’s one called simply *Pauline * (presumably an offshoot of One Nation, which is there too). Also a group called, intriguingly, Hear Our Voice. I have no idea what *Senator On-Line * is about. Nor What Women Want (Australia). And the lengthiest name: The Australian Shooters Party/Australian Fishing and Lifestyle Party. *The Fishing Party * have kept themselves separate from their recreational colleagues. Splitters!
Tomorrow. 8 am I’m going to be beating down the door of the polling place so I can get in, get out and get it over with (I live in a “Centrelink Suburb” so I can’t see many of my neighbours getting out there before lunch time).
God damn my husband and his non-citizen, non-voting arse.
It matched pretty closely with how I was going to vote, although I was disappointed that neither of the major parties filled it out in my electorate. Hell, even the independent socialist candidate managed to provide a garbled block of text without paragraph breaks.
Oddly enough there are two socialist candidates in my area - one from the Socialist Party and one from the Socialist Equality Party. You’d think they wouldn’t want to split the socialist vote like that.
I just came to say i actually met a guy from the “Senator On-line” party, he said they are going to hold online debates and act from the outcome of the debates, sounded interesting, he also said they were running 2 candidates in each state. Seemed like an interesting idea.
Well, that didn’t help me much. The incumbent hasn’t contributed to the quiz, so isn’t in the running, which adds bias to the possible results.
As the guy in question is Peter Costello, and I wouldn’t vote for such a slimey smarmy git, even if I was a citizen of Australia (I’m only a permanent resident), then maybe that’s okay, but nevertheless it would’ve been nice of him to take part, all things considered.
I voted yesturday, it was pretty empty there, just a few old ducks running the joint and a few wonders out the front handing crap out.
They asked me why I needed to vote early, I just responed with “religious reasons”. Seems to work everytime, they never questions me after that. (mind you i got no religion or have anything to do with it)
Got a strong reverse Sophie’s choice on this one, I ended up going Green but wishing I could have given them all away.
Who the hell even attempts to do the preferential Senate vote? Ever since Harradine became a power broker the ratio of nutjobs and increased ten-fold. The decision between who gets my least favorite position between Pauline or Family FIrst or The Shooters Party or the Citizens Electoral council is a minefield.
Haven’t voted yet. I’ll get there tomorrow sometime between buying plants and bitching about cutting the grass after the recent rains.
I’ve got 5 candidates to choose from. Liberal, Labour, DLP, Family First and Greens. During the whole campaign I’ve heard not a word from any of them. Not even a flyer in the letter box. Nothing. Nada. Bugger all. Not a sausage.
I would have though they want my vote, but apparently not. I’m in Gorton which is held by the ALP by 14.9%. Not much chance of my vote changing anything in this seat which is why I suppose they haven’t bothered.
I wish I could get the other fools in my electorate to understand that as a safe ALP seat, the ALP does nothing for us as they’re not going to lose the seat and the Libs do nothing either as they’re never going to win the seat. So we get nothing.
A swinging seat. Now that would be worthy of some attention.
I really, truly haven’t decided who to vote for. Maybe I’ll just formally vote informal and be done with it in the house of reps.
In the senate, I’ll vote below the line, only because it will annoy the counting staff.
I wonder how many people are going to write a derogatory comment against the nominees on their ballot papers… you’d be amazed how many are called w*nkers!
You’re not big, you’re not clever and it doesn’t do much. But sometimes it just feels good to be scribbling things about the candidates on your ballot paper.
I don’t wanna vote. I wish I could send hubby in my place.
S’cuse my ignorance and all, but doesn’t putting extraneous stuff (like YA BIG WANKER) on a ballot paper render the vote invalid, even if all the boxes are filled in correctly?
kam…who is going to toddle off in the morning to the local Primary School to cast her vote and get a sausage.
I voted early last week. There has been a voting place open for weeks opposite where I work. I think half the people at work have already voted - everyone in my team has. Funnily enough they didn’t even ask why you wanted to vote early just got the papers for your electorate and that was it.
As a founding member of the Socialist Equality Party I had to give them my Senate vote.
I have actually been involved in paid focus group polling during the election campaign and I am pretty sure that about 90% of people shouldn’t be voting at all.
Conversations like this were common:
Member of the Public: I think I 'll vote Labor this time because they have better ideas.
Pollster: What ideas do you like?
MotP: The Education Revolution.
P: Do you know what that means?
MotP: No, not really.
P: What else?
MotP: The improvements to the health system.
P: How are they going to do that?
MotP: I don’t know they haven’t really said.
All most people could come up with were slogans and bits and pieces of what was said in the popular media. The intellectual weight being applied to their election choice was about the same as that used by primary school kids to pick teams in the playground - “I like him more than I like him.”
I’m in the North Sydney electorate. Even if the Libs get back in (oh please let them lose - please, please, please), I will take it as a consolation prize if Hockey loses to Bailey, and be downright cheerful if Maxine McKew wins in the next seat over!
There are 2 groundfloor units next door.
Our nextdoor neighbour put a Bailey poster in his front window.
His nextdoor put a Hockey poster on a tree in the front yard.
The Bailey poster was moved to a pole on the fence.
Every morning someone turned the Bailey poster round so it didn’t face the street. The neighbour cleverly put a Rudd poster on the reverse of the Bailey poster.
Now all the posters have disappeared. And it is now very quite next door. Either way, I expect a lot of noise from one or other unit tomorrow night.
