#democracy sausage

[ironedorchid]

I go an extra kilometre to a polling place that not only has democracy sausage (which I can't eat) but egg and bacon rolls and an excellent cake stall.

The polling places are often at schools, and the PTA (or equivalent) provides the food stalls for voters as a way to raise money for projects.

Can I ask you to about compulsory voting?

What about it?

[coolasakuhncumber]

Overheard in the voting line (while eating a democracy sausage w/ hashbrown + tomato sauce)

'I love democracy, it's a real privilege to vote.'

[adreamthatsworthkeeping]

Sydney has dozens and dozens of Democracy Sausages. There's 13 in my region, and 10 of them are almost an hour away.

[gedoran]

An important resource for everyone on their way to vote yes today.

[axvoter]

Index to the Blatantly Partisan Party Reviews, 2022 Victorian state edition

This Saturday is election day in Victoria and a record number of candidates are standing. You could find yourself a little bewildered by the plethora of micro-parties on the ballot. You might have also heard about the controversies surrounding Group Ticket Voting, where Victoria is the last state to retain this anti-democratic system that allows parties to control some preferences.

I’ve written my blog entries to demystify these micro-parties and to explain how to ensure you stay in control of your own preferences. All entries are written from a left-wing perspective sympathetic to democratic socialism and green politics, so calibrate according to your own predilections. I make no pretension to false objectivity—that’s why these are blatantly partisan party reviews.

When you go to vote, you will receive two ballot papers. One will be a very large ballot for the Legislative Council (the upper house). The state is divided into eight regions that each elect five members of the Legislative Council. Every registered party is contesting every region. But the Legislative Council is the house of review; government is formed in the Legislative Assembly (the lower house). It contains 88 seats, and the number of candidates—both party-affiliated and independent—varies significantly between electorates.

On the small ballot for the Legislative Assembly, you must number every square. Do not skip or repeat a number. You are in full control of your preferences on this ballot: if your preferred candidate is not elected, your vote transfers at full value to your second preference, and so on. You might receive a How To Vote card from party campaigners: this is a suggestion only and you can fill out your preferences in any order you like.

On the large ballot for the Legislative Council, you can either vote above the line or below the line and I CANNOT EMPHASISE ENOUGH THAT YOU SHOULD VOTE BELOW THE LINE. If you vote above the line, you will receive the preferences lodged on a group ticket by the party for whom you vote 1. Any other preferences you mark will be ignored. Many of these group tickets are dodgy, decided by backroom deals, and none of them reflect what a party’s voters do when they can give preferences freely.

To vote below the line, you must number at least five candidates sequentially 1–5. You can then give as many more preferences as you want. You can stop at 5, or you can preference everyone, or do anything in between; it’s up to you. I recommend preferencing as far as you can express a meaningful preference, including between gradations of bad, as this maximises the power of your vote. I also recommend preparing your vote beforehand on a template such as that from ClueyVoter, and then copying this onto your ballot in the booth. If you want a more detailed discussion of this system and how to make best use of your vote, Kevin Bonham's got you covered.

This entry includes links to my reviews of each micro-party. Earlier today I posted a cheat sheet with my recommended preference categories. I do not review Labor, Liberal/National, Greens, or One Nation, as anyone interested enough to read this blog presumably already has opinions on those parties. I did float the prospect of reviewing the state branch of One Nation when I began the reviews, but their website still lacks meaningful content for the state election and it seems they aren’t presenting any Vic-specific platform, so it's same old guff.

Angry Victorians Party (covid conspiracists)

Animal Justice Party (animal rights)

Australia One (unregistered covid conspiracists endorsing six independents)

Companions and Pets Party (animal breeding and racing industry front)

Democratic Labour Party (Catholic conservatism)

Derryn Hinch’s Justice Party (tough-on-crime centrism)

Family First Victoria (Protestant extreme right)

Fiona Patten’s Reason Party (left-wing civil libertarian)

Freedom Party of Victoria (covid conspiracists)

Fusion: Science, Pirate, Secular, Climate Emergency (centre-left pragmatists; unregistered party endorsing three independents)

Health Australia Party (anti-vaxxers who were anti-vax before covid made it the trendy thing for conspiracists)

Indigenous–Aboriginal Party of Australia (Indigenous rights; unregistered party endorsing three independents)

Legalise Cannabis Victoria (single issue)

Liberal Democratic Party (far-right libertarians)

New Democrats (centre-right)

Restore Democracy Sack Dan Andrews (personal grudge and/or preference-harvesting front)

Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party (anti-environmentalist gun nuts)

Socialist Alliance (socialism; unregistered party endorsing four independents)

Sustainable Australia—Stop Overdevelopment/Corruption (anti-immigration NIMBYs)

Transport Matters Party (centre-left taxi industry front)

United Australia Party (covid grievance-mongers floating in a policy-free zone)

Victorian Socialists (socialism)

Overviews of independents for the Legislative Assembly and for the Legislative Council

If you want more perspectives, I recommend the Something for Cate blog for extended takes, and the Notionoriety blog for pithy ones (also this entry covers lower house independents that I haven’t covered). For really short takes, I whipped up a Twitter thread.

Happy voting and enjoy your democracy sausage!

[ariaalways]

Got my democracy sausage

[merlinsbudgiesmugglers]

Doing your democratic duty never tasted so good

[merverelli]

democracy sausage sizzle connoisseur

made with gouache paint and cut up political pamphlets!

[cutepoop]

All of that sounds great, and I wish it was like that in the U.S., but honestly, the thing I'm those most upset about is the fact that we don't get democracy sausage. I feel let down by the system.

[coolasakuhncumber]

Oh what's that? Just me threatening to be overcome by emotion at every YES poster, pin and shirt I see.

Writing those three letters felt momentous. I was so excited at the election party last year when it was clear Labor won I turned to my colleague and the first thing I said was 'We're going to a referendum!'

I didn't think it would be this hard, this divisive, this full of hate for something that will do nothing to those it doesn't impact and so much for our First Nations people. It's a simple act of love, this saying yes thing.

It's not about the sausage but democracy is better with traditional snacks.

[adreamthatsworthkeeping]

'Twas the night before election, and there was quite the frustration.

As adults were googling the nearest democracy sausage location.

They looked up their ward, and checked the closest school hall.

Only to discover instead of a sanga, it had a bloody cake stall.

[bathtub-frog]

Happy local government election day, fellow QLDers! If you're also like me and refuse to go to the polls on actual polling day to avoid crowds, you can always get yourself a Sausage Sizzle Frog sticker to commemorate your participation in democracy 🌭

you can get one here!

[spnexploration]

Happy Democracy Sausage Day!

And yes, I did pick my polling booth by looking up which had a sausage sizzle AND a cake stall 😋

[lethalwizard]

i just can’t believe out of all the countries on earth - america was NOT the one to cultivate an honoured nation wide tradition of getting a barbecued ‘democracy sausage’ sandwich to celebrate when you cast your vote

[newtonsheffield]

Not me rocking up to vote in the local election and finding out the mayor of my town (whose name I didn’t previously know) is running unopposed. So I’ve literally shown up to get my name ticked off a piece of paper.

No one wants to be the mayor of this place. I’m screaming 😂😂😂

[bronwynhillside]

And here is the link

https://democracysausage.org/act_election_2024/m/@-35.31270,149.1054,z10.67331/