Election

I really don’t like elections. In Australia, voting is compulsory. You can be fined if you don’t cast your vote. Also, the voting system is extremely complicated, with separate sheets for the upper and lower house. I can’t be bothered with all that. I just scribble on my ballot papers in a silent protest.

In England, it was a different story. I worked on the elections: it was a nice little earner! I was in effect getting paid twice, since my branch library was turned into a polling station for the day.

Yesterday, I went to an “early voting” place as I’ll be away from home on 3rd May which is the actual election day. Many people had the same idea. When I arrived at 8.45 am there was already a long queue. There were representatives of all the major parties asking people if they knew what to do: so complicated is the process. I brushed them all off. It took me 35 minutes in the queue. Luckily it was a warm morning or it would have been a cold and draughty wait.

Later, I enjoyed a Moroccan inspired meal in my tagine:

…followed by papaya which is in season right now:

It is delicious served with fresh lime juice. I used to have it every day for breakfast in Singapore.

This is interesting:

https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/find-legal-answers/books-online/hot-topics-voting-and-elections/compulsory-voting-and-against