next Saturday, many people [if they haven't pre-voted] will troop off to their nearest polling place (usually a local primary school with enthusiastic sellers of 'democracy sausages', tea and coffee and cakes/scones/etc). After being offered how-to-vote papers of various hues by candidates volunteers, they will then get their name crossed off the paper hardcopy of the electoral roll, be issued with a small white paper and a very long green paper and make their way to a free cardboard space to peruse and put numbers on the bits of paper. After a quick check to make sure all the boxes are marked correctly, the pieces of paper are folded up and placed into the Ballot Boxes provided (cardboard held together with cable ties!).
They then trundle off to do the saturday shopping or pick up kids or goto the footy..
After 6 pm local time (1800hrs), the big job of counting up the ballots commences...
It seems an odd way to select the people who want to run the country for the next 3 years, but it works well enough for us... [voting is compulsory in Oz]
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