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Section Four: Election Day - Part One

Narration:

Election Day itself is the time when the many thousands of casual workers who will man the thousands of polling places and count the millions of votes will be tested. To ensre that they are up to the task, staff of the AEC invest many hours in training these people.
All of the venues that are to be used as polling places will have ben checked and rechecked for suitability, with light, space and access major considerations.

And the equipment delivered to these places in every corner of the nation runs into hundreds of tonnes.

School halls, church and community halls, a range of venues from the smallest rural towns to the capital cities are transformed into hundreds of identically equipped polling places, manned by identically trained polling officials.

And at the identical time, the polling places open their doors.

Questions:

Facts, figures and statistics of all kinds relating to the scale and cost of the election can be researched on the AEC website. www.aec.gov.au > What > Publications > Behind the Scenes > Polling Arrangements.

If your school wasn’t a polling place would it be suitable?

Equipment ranges from screen to pencils with holes in the end. Why holes in the end? Why screens? What sorts of signs would be required?

How might the time be co-ordinated? Officers in charge use either the time signal on the ABC or the telephone time service.

Activities

• Perhaps your own school is a polling place and someone associated with the school is the Officer in Charge on Election Day. Ask that person to explain what has to be done whenever there is an election.
• Draw up a list of selection criteria and run through it for your school.