I will post this blog after my employment at the Wentworth By Election has completed as I don't want my employment terminated mid way through polling day.
Before I do, I wanted to write something in memory of an eccentric customer who just passed away. She and her partner used to come into the store and purchase quite a few pieces of kitchenware almost every week for a very long time but as her muscular dystrophy became worse we saw less and less of her and her partner. Then her partner started coming without her because she was to ill to travel by car. He told us of how they modified their house to accommodate her deteriorating condition.
We didn't see her for a while until one day she popped up with her son rather then with her partner and looked much better - she had been on " the drugs" . The drugs were not a cure - there was no cure, they were to slow her condition down to try and give her a better quality of life.
I loved hearing her stories but the condition had took a toll on her physically although mentally she was sharp as she ever was.
One of her eccentric traits was she dyed her hair all sorts of colours purples pinks blues and her makeup! She was always upbeat with a bit of a sense of humour. She loved animals too. Birds and ducks were a favourite.
We didn't see her for quite a while and on Friday we spotted her partner passing through the shopping centre alone and found out that she had just passed away. (It was such a sad day for us all as it has not yet been a year since another one of our regular customers passed away who also used to visit us almost every Thursday with her daughter. Now her daughter still visits us alone to tell us all about the ups and downs of her life.)
Her partner was looking very sad and very skinny and it was as if he didn't know what to say to us and was about to burst into tears but as we chatted his sorrow parted just briefly and his sense of humour broke out. He is an amazing person who you could see adored his partner and stuck with her through thick and thin to the end instead of abandoning her like some would.
I didn't know he did her make up for her ( also having to explain to one of my younger colleagues who thought she had had Botox when she actually had not)
He joked about how the lounge room became her bedroom and she had the best room in the house with the tv the fireplace etc and how he wanted to host dinner parties in the lounge room around her "bedroom" .
He "mooed" a bit which was one of his eccentric traits when things weren't quite right. Then there was the stories of their belovered cyrogenically frozen deceased duck which had been kept in their freezer for months taking up all their freezer space now being thawed and cremated with her ("Now I have some freezer space!" he exclaims)
And how she was working right up to her death - " ......Darling have you uploaded the piece on........" - "Yes darling".
She died peacefully in her sleep apparently at home with her partner. We will miss her and so will the media community that knew her. I hope that her partner will continue to visit us.
May she rest in peace and be in a better place.
🥚🐥🐣🐇🐔🐰🐤🐦🦆🐓🐧🦅🕊🦃🐿🦉
Ok the polls have closed the ordinary votes counted and I have now left the polling place.
It is now safe for me to post whatever I like about this Wentworth By Election @ The Church In The Marketplace (Bondi Junction North) - the good bad ugly and humorous.
Firstly the bad :
1. EOs ran out of ballot papers and they were going to transfer some of the DVIOs ballot papers to the EOs but the OIC decided against it as it would just complicate the end of day count reconciliation. 2 further separate batches of ballot papers were urgently couriered in by the PPLO with tight security. Last Federal Elections at Mill Hill we ran out of ballot papers as well. It was down to 1 EO and multiple queues of voters waiting therefore voters were asked to go to Mill Hill (just down the road) as it was quieter at that polling place. The polling place was almost empty until the new batches of ballot papers arrived but not for long.
2. There were a few silent voters at this polling place however all postal and silent voters have to be referred to the OIC. One silent voter's vote was not so silent unfortunately - the OIC asked the silent voter for ID of some sort such as a passport or drivers licence - but hold on, a passport does not reveal your address but a drivers licence does - isn't the whole point of a silent vote is to protect the identity and contact details of a silent voter? This became even more ridiculous when the silent voter could not produce his passport or drivers licence so he had to select the next option which was to have someone who could prove his identity - how could he do that he came alone and the whole point was for him to remain anonomous!
3. There were quite a few postal votes submitted as well at this polling place on the day of voting. I don't understand. To do a pre vote or postal vote a list of criteria have to be satisfied by a voter such as more then 8 km away from nerest polling place, illness, working on the day of voting are just a few excuses - I mean examples. So I posted my postal vote but it asked for a witness and I asked 2 people to sign as witnesses but both declined - the first witness refused as they were residents not citizens of Australia therefore cannot vote - ok I accepted this however they were employed by Australia Post which does not really make any sense. The second witness I asked was concierge from Westfield and they flatly refused so I wrote on my ballot paper in big letters that as far as I am concerned I have posted my postal vote and advised them of a lack of witnesses. My friend was willing to sign however I wanted to get rid of it straight away and placed it straight back into its replied paid envelope and into the mail box at Bondi Junction. Which brings me to my next points - if it is a postal vote why are people bringing them back to the polling places? It is a by election not a full election and if they are returning it to polling place on the actual polling day why aren't they just lining up and casting a normal vote? This means they didn't really fufill any of the list of criteria for a postal vote. Onto my next point in regards to postal votes - confidentiality is an issue- the personal details on postal votes are exposed on the back of the envelope containing the ballot paper - instructions are there to fold them in a particular way to hide them however these envelopes all had to be undone by the OIC when they were received before placing them in the sealed ballot boxes which have very thin slots in them.
4. How on earth did the Liberal Party get my contct number? Let me guess the AEC. I did not appreciate getting calls from the Liberal Party late at night! Over several nights as well.
Then the good :
1. It was a very tight election between candidates K Phelps and D Sharma. On the 1st preference count Sharma led Phelps by a narrow margin however on the 2nd count of preferred preferences Phelps led Sharma by "a mile". I knew Phelps would probably win - no longer does it matter to the residents in the Wentworth electorate that the preferred candidate is a Liberal Party representative. People are looking for someone who has credentials. I mean who is Dave Sharma anyway? Does he have any experience as a MP? Dr Phelps on the other hand is well known - she not only represents the medical community but represents the female community as well as the "Gay" community. The question is now - Is she a Liberal or Labor supporter?
And maybe the ugly :
There was a protest outside the polling place I was working at. What the protest was about I don't really know and who cares but the swarms of people coming to vote and the how to vote groups outside did. The police were called eventually after an inital complaint lodged to our OIC from a how to vote volunteer working outside. Unfortunately the OIC could not help him as it does not affect or involve polling place issues. A person dressed up as Osama Binlarden was the cause chanting profanities.
And the humourous :
1. There is one in every election - I did not find any ballot papers with "F*** Off!" written across them however there was one ballot paper I came across which I placed with the informal pile with a comment written across it I could not read. Then there was the ballot paper a work colleague next to me came across that had a drawing of a dick across it apparently the PLO says this happens every election. It is probably the same voter each election. No photos this time round as this Wentworth By Election is being much more closely monitored - more monitored then the last Federal Election!
Social Experiments I Wanted To Do That Didn't Go According To Plan @ The Wentworth By Election
1. There are usually long queues on polling day to vote therefore I like to purchase a whole lot of lollies so voters can help themselves to one or two ( staff as well) while they are waiting in line (or in my case working - we need it as it is avery long day!). It is a nice gesture and it makes people feel happy. This year I purchased 2 different types of gummy bears - single sweet in mixed flavours and double bears holding hands with one bear being sweet and the other bear sour in various flavours. The aim was to place 2 containers on the desk where I was processing the dec votes. One container with the sweet single gummy bears and the second container with an equal amount of double sweet and sour gummy bears that are holding hands. If a voter takes a double gummy bear it indicates a vote for K Phelps or it could mean a formal vote but if a voter takes a single gummy bear it indicates a vote for another candidate or it could mean an informal vote. Whichever container contains the least amount of gummy bears left at the close of polling will give an indication of polling results. Only a few problems - most of the voters were ordinary votes so the queues were not in my direction and most of the gummy bears ended up in kids' mouths who are too young to vote ( we actually weren't allowed to give out lollies to the voters due to diabetes - I always asked the parent for permission first before giving a gummy bear to a child.) There was one mother with 2 young boys and both got a double sweet and sour gummy bear each. The younger child devoured his gummy bears which may indicate his approval of K Phelps or the overall By Election however his older brother was not so happy with the taste of his gummy bears making a sour face as he licked them - I gather his disapproval of K Phelps or maybe just a general disapproval of the whole Wentworth By Election ie the I don't really want to be here look. He mother on the otherhand asks her older son " Don't like it? I'll have it!" - A definite vote for K Phelps perhaps!? Social Experiment # 1 @ the Wentworth By Election EPIC FAIL - have to try again at the next set of Elections next year!
2. Postal voting for elections is an option if you are unable to vote on the actual polling day. So I have posted my postal vote but asked a visiting interstate polling offical what would happen if I went to an EO's computer to check if my name was still on the electoral roll. Would it still apoear on the roll as not hving voted yet? Would it have been marked off as voted? or would it not appear at all on the electorial roll? Good question but I will never know as I was told not to even check in case I am marked off accidently again and hence would result in a fine for multiple voting or if I wasn't marked off but just checking to see if my name appeared - Canberra is watching so don't risk it. I was told just accept that the system is working - I can't there re too many voters whose names were not correct on electorial roll or absent from it altogether. If you have a unique name like mine - probably better not to challenge the system!
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