Post APzX9BIM2wLZcB2KMy by sortius@mastodon.au
 (DIR) More posts by sortius@mastodon.au
 (DIR) Post #APzX9BIM2wLZcB2KMy by sortius@mastodon.au
       2022-11-26T05:35:38Z
       
       0 likes, 1 repeats
       
       I know Americans are probably baffled at why Australian #elections are more festivity than football match, but I'll try to explain a few things.#Voting in Australia, even down to council elections, are compulsory. If you've ever registered to vote, you must vote, or cop a $50 fine.With this in mind, our electoral commissions (state and federal) are well funded and fully independent. You must not be a member of a political party to be employed by them.So we must vote, and the votes are independently managed by a well funded commission. All that's left is the actual voting.When voting, lines are generally pretty short, but even if they're not, there's food and drinks freely available to those waiting; the most famous of these are the democracy sausage (a sausage with a slice of bread, sauce, and maybe onions), and the democracy cake stalls.As much as there are political parties out the front of polling centres, they must to be on their best behaviour, lest they be banned