A visit to a polling place

Last Saturday was Australia’s Election Day. Though I have no vote, not being an Australian citizen, I was curious to see what happens at the ‘Polling Place’ – the name used here for the polling booth which we are used to in Sri Lanka. 

Schools are the main places selected as polling places. Being a suburb in Perth, the place I went to was a primary school. The constituency is Curtin, one of the 17 constituencies in the state of Western Australia (WA).

The first thing that struck me as I reached the premises was the absence of any security in and around the place. Some voters came in their vehicles but most of them walked. Vehicles were parked alongside the roads leading to the school. Voters walked in and joined the queue. Most of them were accompanied by their small children – obviously they could not leave them alone in the house. Some came with their pet dogs – normally one, some two. 

As I walked in, a party volunteer approached me and gave a single page leaflet neatly printed in colour. It was from the Liberal Party. It featured ‘The plan for a strong new economy’ outlining six key points which formed the gist of their campaign on one side, with photographs of the ‘Turnbull Liberal Team’ headed by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. 

The other side carried the voting system illustrating how to vote for the House of Representatives and the Senate. The candidate’s name was used for the House of Reps (in this case Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, who had been winning every election for several years) and alongside was her photograph.

A female volunteer then gave me a Labour Party leaflet also well presented with one side carrying five key campaign points alongside pictures of the party leader, Bill Shorten and the candidate, who also happened to be a female. ‘We’ll put people first’ was their message. The different steps to be followed in voting for the two Houses of Parliament were illustrated on the other side.

‘The Greens’ leaflet was the third one I was given by a volunteer – also a female. ‘Standing up for a fair society and a clean economy’ was their message which was explained in six languages apart from English. Their multi-racial approach was obvious. The languages included Hindi, Chinese, Arabic, Italian and Spanish. It carried the voting instructions as well. ‘The Greens’ candidate was also a female.

‘Votes for Renewables’ said another leaflet I got. It was aimed at who should be elected to the Senate and was anti-ruling party, highlighting that under the Coalition (as the Liberal Party government is called) investment in renewables dropped 88% and stating that instead of investing in thousands of solar and renewable jobs, they were giving tax handouts to foreign mining companies. They identified Labour and The Greens as parties with better renewable energy policies and through illustrations showed how to vote for either of those two parties.

Fund-raising

Beyond the queue I saw a lot of activity on the verandah of a school building where lots of children and adults were mingling.  School parents had organised fund-raising projects for the school after obtaining permission from the Elections Office. 

In one corner was a sausage stall where there were brisk sales of hamburgers.  There was a book stall where all the books were being sold at one dollar each – from paperbacks to hard covers. An organiser told me that the books had been donated by parents to sell and get funds for the school. 

Most of the books were novels which had been carefully used. Some books like ‘Bill Clinton’ – the life story of the US President – looked brand new. For $ 1, it was indeed a huge bargain. Cookery books and games along with children’s books were in the collection.  The kids were hanging round the toys section and they found it difficult to select. Such a varied collection it was.

Voting being compulsory the turnout was naturally big. They preferred to come and vote rather than pay a fine. Facilities were also available for WA voters away from their normal polling areas to vote at any other polling place within the state. 

Ballot papers of all constituencies were provided to each polling place and after making a declaration, a voter could use the relevant ballot paper, put it in an envelope, seal it and put in the box provided. Mobile voting facilities were also arranged where vans went round hospitals and other workplaces. 

The polling day being a Saturday, most offices and workplaces were closed and it was convenient for voters to go to the polling places in their area. Voters away from their states could vote at the airport where special facilities were available. Of course, anyone could vote by post in advance.

Officials on election duty were selected from applications called several weeks ahead. Among them were students, undergraduates and private sector employees. They were all paid a handsome allowance. They had to report at 7 a.m. (voting was from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.) and work was over several hours after the closing of the poll. They even had to do the first count at the polling place before sending to the main counting centre. 

Voting is over but with neither of the two major parties getting a clear majority to form the next government, the final result is eagerly awaited till the counting of postal votes is completed.