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Blog: Broadmeadows Ballot Draw |
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Written by Broadmeadows Campaign Manager
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Wednesday, 02 February 2011 13:24 |
Today we kicked off the serious part of the by-election with the Ballot Draw.
It was the first one I had attended as every other one has been too far away or bad timing, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect.
I turned up to the Victorian Electoral Commission office in Little Collins St and made my way to the allocated room. It was all very hushed and I wondered if I was in the wrong place until the Election Manager came over and introduced himself, assuring me that we would be underway shortly. I then moved on around the room, introducing myself to various other candidates and campaign managers. Everyone was very polite and talked about almost everything except why we were actually there; there seemed to be some kind of unspoken code whereby nobody mentioned that we were all desperately hoping to be the one person out of nine whose name came out on top of the ballot.
Everybody wants the number one spot so that they might get a higher percentage from the so called 'donkey vote', the name given to the practice of putting '1' in the first box then numbering all the way down. If you can get over 4% of the the '1' vote, you are eligible for government funding and can recoup some of the the huge cost associated with running.
At about one minute past one pm, the Election Manager announced that we would be getting underway. He spent a few minutes explaining how the draw would work, that it was fully computerised and one click of a button would randomise everyone on the list. Somehow this seemed less exciting than the bingo-barrel style used for Federal elections! After a few more minutes of explanations and questions we were ready to go.
Everyone went quiet as we stared up to the projected computer screen on the wall. All of the Candidates names were up there in the order that their nominations had been received - I was quite surprised to find that despite handing in her nomination on the last possible day, Merinda was not the last one! The button was pressed and there suddenly we all of the names in the order that they will be on the ballot paper. I was scanning my way down the list and fervently wishing that I had brought my glasses with me so I could actually see the list properly when I realised that Merinda had gotten last place. Not as good as first but better than somewhere in the middle!
It was all a bit on an anti-climax after all of the anticipation, it was literally over in a second. We waited around for a printout of the order that we could take with us in order to start working out preferences and have our How To Vote cards designed. After a few polite and slightly awkward goodbyes to the other representatives, that was it!
Just another day in the life of a Sex Party campaign manager and just another example of how something that seems so complicated is actually much more boring and simple than we as the general public expect. Stay tuned for more from the election trail...
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Last Updated on Wednesday, 02 February 2011 13:27 |
