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00:00The writer Lewis Carroll is famous for his literary inventions,
00:05but in real life, the creator of Alice in Wonderland
00:08was a highly eccentric mathematician called Charles Dodgson,
00:12who taught at Christchurch College in Oxford.
00:16In his spare time, he wrote novels
00:18and dreamed up an elaborate series of inventions,
00:21but mainly, Carroll's remarkable brain
00:24pulsed with the idea of fairness.
00:27He designed a fairer system for the Wimbledon tennis tournament.
00:32Ignored.
00:34A fairer way of charging for sherry in the Christchurch common room.
00:39Drunkenly ignored.
00:40And he thought Britain's first-past-the-post voting system
00:44was desperately unfair.
00:46Off with his head!
00:48Voters only marked one box on the ballot,
00:51meaning that a candidate could win a seat
00:53with nowhere near 50% support.
00:55Will you all just give me just a little bit of a fair go, eh?
00:59Dodgson devised a system of preferential voting
01:02where voters would rank candidates from first to least preferred,
01:06rather than just choosing one.
01:08This way, he argued,
01:10they had a better chance of electing someone they didn't actively hate.
01:14He was so enthused by the idea
01:16that he printed a pamphlet at his own expense
01:19and tried to whip up some interest.
01:22The verdict?
01:24Ignored.
01:25I haven't understood anything you've said.
01:28Dodgson died in 1898.
01:32What he never knew
01:32was that 20 years after his death,
01:35there was one place
01:37where the radical idea of preferential voting caught on.
01:41One place that still uses it to this very day.
01:46Oddly enough,
01:47it's the place where Alice feared she might end up
01:50if she went too far down the rabbit hole.
01:53So where the bloody hell am I?
01:55Australia.
01:56The only nation on Earth
01:58to use full preferential voting from coast to coast.
02:02It's not Dodgson's exact model,
02:05but we agree with his reasoning.
02:07We use it
02:09because we reckon
02:10it's fairer.
02:12MUSIC PLAYS
02:32As Australians,
02:40we tend to take our voting system for granted,
02:43filling out every box on the ballot paper,
02:46the snowdrift of how-to-vote cards
02:48as we rock up to vote on a Saturday,
02:52the sausage, of course,
02:54the fine, should you neglect to show up at all,
02:57the beige omnipresence
02:59of the Australian Electoral Commission,
03:01there to make sure
03:02that the process works
03:04exactly the same way
03:05no matter where you vote.
03:08But none of this is normal.
03:10No other country on Earth
03:11does things the way we do,
03:14shaped over more than a century
03:15by visionaries,
03:17opportunists,
03:19scoundrels
03:19and the great Australian people ourselves.
03:23Democracy Down Under
03:24is a curious creation indeed.
03:28What do you think
03:29are the most remarkable elements
03:31of the Australian electoral system?
03:33So what have we got?
03:34We've got compulsory voting,
03:36preferential voting,
03:37one of the very first countries
03:38to have a permanent electoral administrative body
03:41in the Australian Electoral Commission.
03:43The secret ballot.
03:43We have a secret ballot
03:44and compulsory voting,
03:46which really makes our democracy robust.
03:49It stuns people
03:49when you say voting in Australia is compulsory.
03:52They are absolutely shocked and horrified.
03:54We have universal suffrage.
03:56The invention of the Australian ballot,
03:58the segmented polling booth,
04:00the design of the ballot paper
04:02with the little squares.
04:03That's a pretty good mix.
04:05There are some quirky bits
04:06that people don't quite understand.
04:07Being able to buy a sausage
04:09at your polling booth.
04:10Well, we have preferential voting.
04:12It's not very well understood.
04:14Oh, my God.
04:15Explaining the preferential voting system
04:16is the hardest thing in the world,
04:19particularly when you're trying to do it
04:20in layman's terms.
04:21What are the long-term effects
04:23of our having an independent electoral commission?
04:27One of the reasons
04:28why Australians continue to trust
04:31at a really, really basic level
04:33their democracy
04:33is that the thing is set up neutrally, independently.
04:38There's a sense
04:39that the rules of the game are fair.
04:41It's one of the best things about this country
04:43and we never talk about it.
04:44Here is an address to the nation
04:46by the Prime Minister.
04:48Here's another unusual thing
04:50about the Australian system.
04:52As you know,
04:52I've been to see the Governor-General this morning.
04:54We have elections roughly every three years,
04:57but the exact date
04:58is at the exclusive whim
05:00of the Prime Minister.
05:01And today, I seek a mandate
05:03from the Australian people
05:05to move Australia forward.
05:08Cool if you're the Prime Minister.
05:10Less so if you're Electoral Commissioner Jeff Pope,
05:13who faces a mammoth task.
05:16Plan the nation's most fiendishly complex single-day event
05:20without the benefit of what most would agree
05:23is a fairly relevant detail.
05:25The date.
05:27Oh, my God.
05:28This is a giant shed.
05:29Jeff, how many of these sheds do you have?
05:31We have just over 60 of these,
05:33but this is actually medium size.
05:34Oh, is it?
05:35Yeah, there's one in Sydney
05:37that actually is at least twice the size of this.
05:39It's huge.
05:39So this is all of the boxes
05:42and the chairs
05:44and the ballot papers
05:46and the pencils and the...
05:48No ballot papers at all.
05:50Because they're under lock and key elsewhere?
05:52Well, because we haven't started the process.
05:53I feel like I just gave you a heart attack.
05:55A little bit of a heart attack.
05:56There are no ballot papers here.
05:58This is all of the materials
06:00to run a polling place,
06:02but for the ballot papers.
06:04Jeff, we're all looking at election dates, right,
06:07and watching the Prime Minister's face
06:09really, really carefully.
06:10I assume you're doing that too.
06:11Absolutely.
06:12I get no other indicator
06:13than the Prime Minister's face
06:14and his announcement.
06:15Is your job a bit like planning a wedding
06:17when nobody's actually proposed to you yet?
06:20Yeah.
06:20At a venue that you don't know
06:22where it's going to be,
06:23you don't know really
06:24who the guests are going to be,
06:25you don't know how many are actually going to turn up.
06:27So, yeah, it's probably not a bad analogy, actually.
06:29But you know you're going to need 5 million pencils.
06:31I think we've got 250,000 pencils
06:33to service the election all around the country.
06:36Are you sure that's enough pencils, Jeff?
06:38We reuse them.
06:39And at the end of this,
06:40we actually look at what materials we can also donate.
06:42Is it annoying
06:43to have to book all these places
06:46and make all the calculations
06:47when you don't actually know
06:49when the election's going to be?
06:51Oh, look, the hardest part is, you know,
06:537,000 polling places all around the country,
06:56580 early voting centres all around the country.
06:59Probably also working with DFAT
07:01to get all the materials,
07:02like what you see here,
07:03out to 111 Australian embassies
07:06and posts and missions all around the world.
07:09And then, of course,
07:10sourcing and employing 100,000 fantastic people
07:14that want to come and work with us.
07:16Are you a logistics person by temperament?
07:19Look, I'm pretty damn good at planning.
07:22You know, that comes from my operational policing background.
07:24I've planned things to the nth degree.
07:26Because you were a cop for a long time, weren't you?
07:28Yeah, just over 20-odd years.
07:30Do you run into many baddies in this job?
07:33You come across some from time to time.
07:35You know, the threats of foreign interference
07:37are really growing threats
07:40to every election in Western democracies
07:43right around the world.
07:44It's weird, isn't it,
07:45that when your full job
07:46is to not be noticeable, right?
07:48That's right.
07:49You want to disappear
07:50and you want democracy to be functioning
07:52without anyone even realising
07:54that you've got 60 sheds
07:56full of boxes and pencils
07:58and magnifying glasses
08:00and stuff going everywhere.
08:01Yeah.
08:01I mean, despite this pink vest,
08:03I'm Mr Calico.
08:04Right.
08:04Mr Calico, Mr Beige, Mr Boring
08:09is what I aspire to.
08:11Doesn't sound particularly inspirational,
08:13although as an organisation,
08:14we aim to be boring
08:15and we aim to be not in the headlights.
08:18You need to have a word to your best guy.
08:20Correct.
08:20Or gal.
08:21Yeah.
08:23Geoff, I don't want to freak you out
08:24by reminding you
08:25that this is your first federal election
08:27as the Electoral Commissioner, right?
08:28Yes.
08:29Everything seems to be going well?
08:30Yeah, so far.
08:32You know, but we haven't had contact
08:34with all of Australia just yet,
08:35so that's when it's going to be
08:36a little bit challenging.
08:37But look, I'm loving it.
08:39I love the organisation.
08:40I love the people that work for us.
08:42And I've got to say,
08:43I actually find polling day
08:44a bit emotional.
08:46You know, it's...
08:46Yeah?
08:47..you just get so proud
08:48of what the organisation has delivered,
08:51but also Australia's democracy
08:53is just so special.
08:55And when you look at what's happening
08:56right around the world,
08:57I think it's becoming even more special
08:59and more precious and more treasured.
09:01The 2025 poll,
09:05a logistician's dream
09:07of carefully managed stationary
09:09and foldable booths,
09:10is very different
09:11from the first parliamentary elections
09:13ever staged in Australia,
09:15which kicked off in New South Wales
09:17to elect city and regional representatives
09:19on June the 15th, 1843.
09:23British rules were applied.
09:26In order to vote,
09:27you had to be a man,
09:28and a man with property at that.
09:31The great fear in the 19th century
09:33was that if the mob had the vote,
09:35then you'd get tyranny.
09:37Weirdly, there's this inverted idea
09:39of democracy that only educated people
09:42and only people with property
09:44would respect the rule of law.
09:47Voting took place in public meeting spots,
09:50which, in colonial Australia,
09:53often meant the pub.
09:54Well, I think voting in colonial times
09:57was pretty wild.
09:58You think a democracy sausage
10:00is cause for celebration,
10:02but if you were a voter in 1843,
10:05oh my God, voting day was just wild.
10:08And it was run in the same way
10:09that elections were run
10:11in Britain at the time.
10:13That is, there were public events.
10:14There were marching bands.
10:16There were parades.
10:18There was a lot of alcohol,
10:19both for the people who could vote,
10:21but also it was a spectator sport.
10:22So there were people cheering
10:24and booing and drinking.
10:27And then the voter would walk up
10:29and have to say his name
10:32and the person who he was voting for.
10:34Which means that everybody could hear
10:35who you were going to vote for.
10:36It was like democracy circus
10:38here in Australia.
10:41They would just be getting people
10:42completely pissed.
10:44And it was actually one of the reasons
10:45that people opposed women's suffrage
10:48because they said you can't expect
10:51delicate women to come out on the street
10:53to exercise their right to vote
10:55when these are the scenes
10:57that they're going to be confronted with.
11:00Adding to the cocktail
11:01of boozy confusion in Sydney's election
11:04was the fact that most of the candidates
11:06were called William.
11:08And they were very unlike British candidates.
11:11William Charles Wentworth
11:13was the love child of a highway robber
11:15and a clothes thief
11:16who'd made good in the colonies
11:19as an explorer and newspaper owner.
11:22His running mate, William Bland,
11:25was a convicted murderer.
11:26Deported from England
11:27for killing someone in a duel,
11:30Bland also features
11:31in what's believed to be
11:32Australia's first photograph.
11:35Hello, sir.
11:36No photographs survive
11:37of the third William,
11:39William Hustler.
11:40All we have is his campaign material,
11:42which consists exclusively
11:44of terrible poetry
11:46that he paid to have printed
11:47in the newspaper.
11:49For your rights,
11:49the most trifling,
11:51you'll find me a tussler
11:52once you've elected
11:54yours,
11:55W Hustler.
11:56Voting day quickly spun
11:58out of control
11:59as William Wentworth
12:00pulled ahead in the count.
12:02They kept a running tally
12:04and so the candidates could say,
12:06oh, well, not enough people
12:06are voting for me.
12:07I better give them more drink.
12:09And there ended up being
12:10a lot of fights.
12:11A bunch of drunken sailors
12:13ran to a whaling vessel
12:14and got a harpoon.
12:16The sailors were subdued
12:17by police,
12:19but across town,
12:20a man called Daniel Finney
12:21was bludgeoned to death.
12:25And at the end of that time,
12:26Governor George Gipps
12:28wrote back to the Colonial Office
12:29in London
12:30and said the election
12:31had gone off very well.
12:33William Wentworth
12:34was elected,
12:35as was William Bland,
12:37who also designed
12:38Australia's first airship
12:40and gave his name
12:41to the Bland Shire
12:43in the New South Wales Riverina,
12:45which otherwise
12:45could never have inked
12:47its historic 2013
12:49sister city arrangement
12:50with dull in Scotland
12:52and boring in Oregon.
12:56Colonial Australian voters
12:58didn't mind electing felons,
13:00but they really did not love
13:02the idea of their bosses,
13:04landlords,
13:04or even their friends
13:06watching how they voted.
13:08Of course,
13:09the thing that marks out
13:10true democracies
13:11is the secret vote,
13:12giving people the right
13:13to vote in private
13:14and not have someone else
13:16dictate how they vote.
13:18In quick succession
13:19in the mid-1850s,
13:21Victoria,
13:22Tasmania
13:23and South Australia
13:24introduced a new form
13:26of voting,
13:27a paper ballot
13:28filled out in private.
13:30Early models
13:31listed candidates' names
13:32with voters ruling out
13:34the ones they didn't like.
13:36And somebody in Victoria
13:38comes up with the idea
13:39of the segmented polling booth
13:41so that a number of men
13:43can be all voting at once.
13:46Australia's electoral innovations
13:47might have stopped there
13:49had a young man
13:50called William Boothby
13:52not been dragged from London
13:54to live in Adelaide.
13:55The reason?
13:58William's father,
13:59Benjamin Boothby,
14:00had been appointed
14:01as a judge in Adelaide
14:03by the Colonial Office
14:04and he brought along
14:05his wife
14:06and 12 children
14:07of whom William
14:08was the eldest.
14:10William,
14:10as luck would have it,
14:11nursed a passion
14:12for electoral design.
14:14He got the job
14:16of running
14:16the first elections
14:18in South Australia
14:19and he has to
14:20do it by scratch.
14:21They have to get
14:22an electoral roll.
14:23They then have to run them
14:24and so who's going to
14:26actually set up
14:27the electoral roll?
14:28Local government
14:28is very underdeveloped.
14:30There's not much
14:31of a police force.
14:32Many of the able-bodied men
14:34are over in Victoria
14:35hoping to find gold
14:37and so he decides
14:40that the only solution
14:41is to have paid
14:42public servants
14:43building the electoral roll
14:44and running the elections.
14:46After barely two years
14:47in the colonies,
14:49William Boothby,
14:50the accidental immigrant,
14:51had pioneered the idea
14:53of an independent,
14:54permanent electoral authority.
14:57He ran every election
14:58in South Australia
14:59for nearly 50 years
15:01and he had a bright idea
15:03for improving
15:04the secret ballot.
15:06Instead of having
15:07to cross out the names
15:08and to just have
15:09little squares
15:10next to the ballot
15:11you just could
15:12tick the one you wanted
15:13and that became known
15:14as the Australian ballot
15:15and it spread
15:16throughout the world
15:17and it's one of
15:18Australia's great
15:19contributions
15:20to global elections.
15:22Oh, Boothby was also
15:23very interested in olives
15:25and pioneered the idea
15:26of growing them
15:27in prisons
15:27for their oil.
15:28Very sensible.
15:29He wrote a book about it.
15:30We do take it for granted
15:31I think in Australia
15:32the ability to
15:34just say the most
15:35radical thing
15:37which is you want
15:38to throw out the person
15:39who has power
15:39at the moment
15:40and you don't have
15:42to set fire
15:42to the place to do it.
15:43You just put
15:44a one next to somebody else
15:47and they get kicked out.
15:48We've had Parliament
15:49Commonwealth Parliament
15:50going for over 120 years
15:52but haven't changed
15:54any of those elements
15:55that he originally
15:57put in place
15:57all those years ago.
15:59So is Boothby
15:59a bit of a rock star
16:00for electoral nerds?
16:02Well he's certainly
16:02one of mine
16:03that's for sure.
16:04I think his legacy
16:04is just so enduring
16:06and still such a core feature
16:09of how we function today.
16:10The Australian concept
16:16of the secret ballot
16:17spread to America
16:19and then to Britain
16:20but they still don't vote
16:21like Aussies do
16:22which is to say
16:23triennially
16:24on a Saturday
16:25pencil and paper
16:26bang down a snag
16:27and you're good to go.
16:28Civic duty done.
16:30Thank you for the sausage.
16:32Democracy is different everywhere.
16:34Even our closest relatives
16:36can't agree on a day.
16:37In America
16:38it's Tuesdays
16:39using everything
16:40from a paper ballot
16:41to electronic voting machines.
16:44In Britain
16:44it's Thursdays
16:45and you're only allowed
16:46to vote
16:47in your designated
16:48local polling station
16:50and no
16:50you absolutely
16:51will not get a sausage.
16:53India
16:54the world's biggest democracy
16:55staged its last election
16:57over 44 days
16:59with 15 million
17:01election workers
17:02travelling by road
17:03boat
17:04and elephant
17:05to record
17:06close to a billion
17:07citizens choices
17:08between
17:09744 political parties
17:11represented on ballot papers
17:13by symbols
17:14including brooms
17:15and ceiling fans.
17:17These are the kinds
17:17of innovation
17:18that a democracy demands
17:20when a quarter
17:21of its participants
17:21don't read and write.
17:24In Gambia
17:24people vote for a candidate
17:26by dropping a marble
17:27in the relevant barrel.
17:29In Estonia
17:30you're allowed to vote online
17:32and has been
17:32for 20 years.
17:34What is a democracy?
17:35It's a trickier question
17:37than it sounds.
17:39You've got to watch out
17:40for non-democracies
17:41in drag
17:42like Russia
17:43where complicated
17:45and inscrutable
17:46voting machinery
17:47somehow manages
17:48to produce a majority
17:50for the status quo
17:51every time.
17:53Or North Korea
17:55where voting is compulsory
17:56turnout is close
17:57to 100%
17:59and the ballot paper
18:00features a single name.
18:03Australia is unusual
18:04in having a single
18:06electoral authority
18:07for every election
18:07that's conducted.
18:08The rules are the same
18:09whichever polling booth
18:10you step into.
18:12The ballot papers
18:13look exactly the same
18:14and it's all
18:15a handwritten ballot.
18:16And you know
18:17that the person
18:17who will be counting
18:18that vote
18:19is independent
18:21and is doing it
18:22as a civic service.
18:25Everyone's voice matters.
18:27How everyone votes
18:27matters.
18:29And in having
18:30a level of confidence
18:31across the Australian
18:34body politic
18:34from the far left
18:35to the far right
18:36that and everyone
18:37in between
18:38that this is a fair
18:39electoral system
18:40run by fair-minded
18:41electoral officials
18:42that is worth
18:44its weight in gold.
18:45You are not going
18:47to worry about
18:48and you are not
18:49going to be
18:50encouraged to think
18:52that this election
18:53or that election
18:54is corrupt.
18:54The contest is
18:55the same everywhere.
18:56If you look at
18:57the American election
18:58there's a blizzard
18:58of different rules
18:59from state to state
19:00from county to county
19:01and the rules
19:03are just so complex
19:04and so difficult.
19:07Case in point
19:08the beautiful
19:09baffling American
19:10city of Bristol
19:11which sprawls
19:12across the border
19:13between Trump
19:14voting Tennessee
19:15and Virginia
19:16which in 2024
19:18opted for the Democrats.
19:21The state line
19:22runs down the middle
19:23of the main street.
19:25Abortion is legal
19:26over here
19:27but not over here.
19:29Possession of marijuana
19:30is a criminal offence
19:32on this side
19:33but not if you
19:34cross the street.
19:35It's presidential election
19:37day though
19:37when things get
19:38particularly confusing.
19:40If you're voting
19:41on this side
19:41you'll need photo ID
19:43and you're welcome
19:44to bring your gun along.
19:46Over here
19:46they're cool
19:47if you show up
19:48without ID
19:48but the firearm
19:50non-loud.
19:52In Tennessee
19:53a ballot selfie
19:54could get you
19:5530 days in jail.
19:56In Virginia
19:57do your hair
19:58snap away.
20:00Touch screen voting
20:01paper and pencil.
20:04This is America
20:05where the rules
20:07and regulations
20:07of voting
20:08depend entirely
20:10on which state
20:11you call home.
20:12you call home.
20:13So Mark
20:15we're in Virginia
20:16right now
20:17yes?
20:17That's correct
20:18yes.
20:19Bristol Virginia
20:19you are the mayor
20:21of Bristol Tennessee
20:22which is the other
20:23side of the street.
20:24Right on the
20:24cross that yellow line
20:25right there
20:26yes.
20:26Are you okay
20:27being on this side
20:28of the street?
20:28Are you going
20:29to be challenged?
20:31Absolutely not.
20:32We have a great
20:33relationship
20:33with our sister city
20:35and we get along
20:36quite well.
20:37And Bristol Virginia
20:38has its own mayor
20:39and Bristol Tennessee
20:40has its own mayor
20:41which is you.
20:41That's right
20:42yes.
20:42Same police force?
20:43No we have
20:44two city councils
20:45two police force
20:46two fire departments
20:48all of that sort of stuff.
20:49So if I've been chased
20:50by your cops
20:50on that side of the street
20:51can I just cross the street
20:53and lose them?
20:54No they'll still get you.
20:56Will they?
20:56Yeah we've worked
20:57all that out.
20:58I think in years past
20:59you could have done that
20:59but not anymore.
21:00Also you seem to have
21:01more of the cool bars
21:02why is that?
21:03You know it's just
21:04it's the thing
21:05about Tennesseans
21:06I think we're known
21:07for producing
21:08the very best whisky
21:09in the world
21:10and so some of that's
21:12just part of the
21:13how things have played out
21:14over the years
21:15so yeah.
21:15So is it business
21:16on this side
21:17party on that side?
21:18I think so.
21:19If you want to have fun
21:20you come to Tennessee
21:20yeah absolutely.
21:21Okay all right
21:22I feel I'm prepped
21:23should we move
21:24to the fun side
21:25of the street?
21:25Oh absolutely
21:25yeah I'd love to.
21:26When a presidential election
21:37happens
21:38you're all voting
21:39right
21:39every state
21:40has its own
21:41voting rules
21:42and regulations
21:43it seems confusing
21:45to us
21:45as Australians
21:46because we just have
21:47the same rules everywhere
21:48yeah it's all different
21:49and in fact
21:50in the state of Tennessee
21:51we have election commissions
21:53in each county
21:54and those election commissions
21:56can determine
21:57whether or not
21:57they're going to do
21:58a paper ballot
21:59or if it's going
22:00to be electronic.
22:01And then some states
22:02have electoral offices
22:04who are themselves elected?
22:06Right that's right.
22:07This seems unusual to me.
22:08The commissioner of elections
22:09is appointed
22:10right
22:11but he's also appointed
22:12by you know
22:13a partisan state government.
22:14Yeah that's right.
22:15So talk to me
22:17about districting
22:18in Australia
22:19we have an independent
22:20electoral authority
22:21but in many states
22:23in the US
22:23the state government
22:27will do the redistricting
22:28electoral boundaries.
22:30Yes.
22:30So tell me
22:31how you can
22:32maneuver that
22:34advantageously.
22:35You know people
22:35do all kinds of things
22:38when it comes to
22:38those boundary lines
22:40and work some things
22:41to their own end
22:42so when I was
22:43on the county commission
22:43everybody was a republican
22:44and so if they wanted
22:46to redistrict
22:47that would have been
22:47a pretty easy thing.
22:49But is it the general rule
22:50in American politics
22:51that if you can
22:52get away with
22:53gerrymandering
22:54then go for it?
22:57You know
22:58rule number one
22:59is don't get caught
22:59rule number two
23:00is lie if you do.
23:01No that's not right.
23:04Mark's joking
23:05about this of course.
23:06The truth is
23:07you don't even
23:08need to lie.
23:10The politically
23:10profitable art form
23:12known as gerrymandering
23:13redrawing electoral
23:15boundaries
23:15to ensure
23:16your party wins
23:17is perfectly legal
23:19in America.
23:20It is the process
23:21in which people
23:22draw lines
23:23so that the election
23:25is really being
23:26determined by those
23:27who draw the lines
23:28not the voters
23:28who vote in the election.
23:30You end up with districts
23:31that look like this.
23:33The system here
23:35results in some
23:36of the most
23:37preposterously
23:39drawn districts
23:40you've ever seen
23:41in your life.
23:42Mark's republican
23:43colleagues in Nashville
23:44recently managed
23:46a tactical triumph
23:47by splitting
23:48the city's
23:49black population
23:50into three
23:51and stuffing the bits
23:52into republican
23:53dominated districts.
23:55The result?
23:56The democrat leaning
23:57black vote
23:58is diluted
23:59and Nashville
24:00no longer sends
24:01a single democrat
24:02to Congress.
24:06It's not just doodling.
24:08This stuff
24:09has an effect.
24:10America's lower house
24:12is huge
24:12435 seats
24:14but they're so rigged
24:15that in 2024
24:17only 17 of them
24:19changed hands
24:203%.
24:22Whereas in Australia
24:24it's a fairer fight
24:26because our electoral
24:27boundary process
24:28is completely
24:29uncoloured
24:30by politics.
24:31Geoff,
24:32tell us how
24:33you beige it up.
24:34There's effectively
24:35a two-step process
24:36so for me to truncate it
24:37there's a redistribution
24:39committee that is formed
24:40that is chaired
24:41by me as the
24:42electoral commissioner.
24:43We open up
24:45for public submissions
24:46come up with a proposal
24:47about how to adjust
24:48the boundaries
24:48to equal representation
24:50we possibly can
24:51put out for comment
24:52we take comments
24:53and we come up
24:53with a final proposal
24:55about how we're going
24:55to try and change
24:57those boundaries.
24:58Then the second step
24:59is that proposal
25:00then goes to the
25:01augmented electoral commission
25:03chaired by a person
25:04who's appointed
25:05by the Chief Justice
25:07of the Fed.
25:07It's also got
25:08Australia's
25:09Chief Statistician.
25:10The three of us
25:11then do effectively
25:12the same process.
25:13Here's a proposal
25:14open to submissions
25:15consider everything
25:16that's in front of us
25:17make the decision
25:17based on all of that
25:19as to what we feel
25:19is the best outcome.
25:21I think I lost
25:21consciousness
25:22while you were
25:23describing the full process.
25:26Is this the conspiracy
25:27that while we fall asleep
25:29when you explain it
25:30you do something corrupt?
25:33It's all open
25:34and transparent.
25:35Why do you have
25:36to redraw boundaries?
25:38We've got growth corridors
25:39in Australia
25:40where population
25:40is exploding
25:41and we've got to
25:42try and even that out
25:43so we redistribute
25:44every seven years.
25:47In Western Sydney
25:48another of Geoff's
25:50vast collection of sheds
25:51is being whipped
25:52into shape
25:53by AEC veteran Melanie.
25:56So what's with
25:57all these locked cages?
25:58I mean what's in there?
26:00Oh well that's where
26:01we're going to put
26:01all our ballot papers
26:02when we get them.
26:03Yes, so very important
26:05and very important
26:06that we keep them secure.
26:07Right, authorised
26:08personnel only.
26:09Authorised personnel only.
26:10You're going to be
26:11wearing a particular vest
26:12and in a particular role.
26:13Pink vest get you in there?
26:14No.
26:15Really?
26:16What colour vest
26:17do you need to get in there?
26:18The red vests
26:19that our division
26:19returning officers
26:20and their materials
26:21staff wear.
26:23Elite?
26:24Absolutely.
26:26Mel's being modest.
26:28In her 20 years
26:29at the AEC
26:30she has worn
26:31the proud red vest
26:33of the DRO.
26:35The divisional
26:35returning officer
26:36responsible for
26:38one of Australia's
26:39150 federal electorates.
26:42These days
26:42she's a trainer.
26:44She plays Yoda
26:44to an army
26:45of purple vested
26:46Luke Skywalkers.
26:48The DROs
26:50of the future.
26:52Melanie,
26:52what sort of people
26:53want to come and work
26:54for the AEC
26:55at election time?
26:57People who come
26:57to work for us
26:58are often people
26:58who just love elections.
26:59Whether it's the process
27:02or whether it's just
27:03the theatrics of it
27:05but people who just love
27:07the fact that
27:08it's a contribution
27:08to democracy as well.
27:10So you're playing
27:10a civic role.
27:12So you've been
27:12a divisional returning officer
27:14which is when you
27:14run a whole seat.
27:16Yes.
27:16Right?
27:17Is that nerve wracking?
27:19Yes.
27:20When you're
27:21essentially the person
27:22who is responsible
27:23for delivering the election
27:24for that seat.
27:25Absolutely.
27:27My first time
27:28as a divisional returning officer
27:29was 2016.
27:31That was a hectic election.
27:32It was a hectic election.
27:34It was a three-way contest
27:35and that meant
27:37it was really hard
27:38to tell
27:38how it was going to fall.
27:40How relaxing.
27:41Very relaxing.
27:42How often do you cry
27:44when you're a DRO?
27:46In 2016
27:47I cried every day
27:48for three weeks.
27:49Less in 2019.
27:51That was my objective
27:54in 2019.
27:56Cry less than 2016.
27:57Success.
28:00Wow, so looking out
28:01on this
28:01does it make you feel
28:03inspired or panicky?
28:06Inspired
28:06to see everything
28:07looking as ready
28:08to go as it is
28:09and be nervous
28:10once
28:11people get involved.
28:13People get involved.
28:14Yes, exactly.
28:16Do you think elections
28:17would run a lot more smoothly
28:18if there were no humans involved?
28:20It was just ballot papers?
28:21Yeah.
28:23Sometimes I think that
28:24but in general
28:25the people are amazing.
28:29Breaking news in Canberra.
28:32The exact date
28:33of the federal election
28:34is about to stop
28:35being the Prime Minister's
28:37special secret.
28:39My fellow Australians
28:41this morning I visited
28:43the Governor-General
28:44and Her Excellency
28:45has accepted my advice
28:47that an election
28:48will be held
28:49on Saturday
28:503rd of May
28:512025.
28:53The PM's
28:54next five weeks
28:55will be a modern
28:56pentathlon of chaos.
28:57Steps up a gear
28:58for the election design.
29:00This election is a choice
29:01about who can better
29:02manage our economy.
29:03We go beyond
29:04the talking points.
29:05In a bizarre
29:06election campaign
29:07controversy
29:07they use every moment
29:09and chase
29:10every last vote.
29:14But Geoff is governed
29:16by legislation
29:17that was written
29:18in 1918
29:19and the onset
29:20of an election
29:21obliges him
29:23to observe
29:23a series
29:24of stately duties.
29:26We'll start
29:26with the Ritz
29:28for the House
29:28of Representatives.
29:29A call upon
29:30the Governor-General
29:31for the issuing
29:32of the Ritz.
29:34Basically
29:34they're the paperwork
29:35for the election.
29:36Thank you very much.
29:39A physical printout
29:40of the electoral roll
29:41for every single seat.
29:44Now the Northern Territory
29:45that one's Solomon.
29:46Each of which
29:47Geoff must certify
29:48with his own
29:49fair hand.
29:51Alright.
29:52Well.
29:56The names of nearly
29:5718,100,000 people
29:59in front of us
29:59and the roll
30:00is now ready
30:02for the election.
30:07But the AEC's
30:08process hits
30:09an intoxicating height
30:11of complexity
30:12and antiquity
30:13when it comes time
30:15to determine
30:15the order of candidate
30:17names
30:17of the ballot.
30:19It's done
30:19with scrupulous fairness
30:20in public
30:22on the same day
30:23at high noon
30:24in all 150 electorates.
30:27This one's
30:29the Western Sydney
30:30seat of Fowler.
30:32It's now 12 o'clock.
30:34We'll begin
30:34this declaration
30:35of nominations.
30:36According to
30:37the Electoral Act
30:38electoral staff
30:39must
30:40section 213
30:42paragraph 1
30:43subclause 1
30:44compile a list
30:45of candidates
30:46and
30:46subclause 2
30:48read it out.
30:49I'm now required
30:50to declare the names
30:51and nomination details
30:52of all candidates.
30:53Then
30:54subclause 3
30:55place numbered balls
30:57in a spherical
30:58container.
30:59I think there's
31:00something like
31:01two and a half pages
31:02in the Electoral Act
31:03are devoted to that
31:04act of rolling
31:05the cage.
31:06Subclause 4
31:07rotate the container
31:09and permit
31:10any other person
31:11present
31:12who wishes
31:12to do so
31:13to rotate
31:14the container.
31:16You could just
31:17get a computer
31:17to randomise
31:19the order
31:19couldn't you?
31:20Where would
31:20the fun be
31:21in that
31:22when you've
31:22got this
31:23fantastic
31:24artefact
31:24that is so
31:25transparent
31:26people are
31:26invited to
31:27come up
31:27and rotate
31:27the bra
31:28and they do
31:28and they love
31:29doing it.
31:30Under subclause 4
31:31I wish
31:31to rotate
31:32the container.
31:41Subclause 5
31:42cause a person
31:44who is blindfolded
31:45and has been
31:47blindfolded
31:47since before
31:48the rotation
31:49of the container
31:50in accordance
31:50with subclause 4
31:52Ethan will
31:52perform this
31:53duty.
31:54To take the
31:54balls
31:54or cause the
31:56balls to come
31:56out of the
31:57container
31:58one by one
31:59and as each
32:00ball is taken
32:01or comes out
32:02to pass it
32:03to another
32:04person
32:05who shall
32:06call out
32:06the number
32:07on the
32:09ball.
32:10Number one
32:11Jarrett
32:12Athelie.
32:13If we had
32:14a randomised
32:14computer process
32:16I can guarantee
32:18there will be
32:19conspiracy theories
32:20and complaints
32:20about the code
32:22and about the
32:22assurance of the
32:23system.
32:24Number four
32:24Avery
32:26Jacob Howard
32:26and the bias
32:27that sits in the
32:28code that sits
32:29behind that
32:30as to how a
32:31particular candidate
32:32came out on top
32:33of a particular
32:33ballot paper
32:34or how they might
32:35have come out on
32:36top twice in
32:37successive elections.
32:38It's about avoiding
32:39those traps
32:40and pitfalls.
32:41Vivek Singh
32:42This completes the
32:43draw for candidate
32:44positions.
32:45Di Lee is the
32:49incumbent here in
32:50the Western Sydney
32:51seat of Fowler.
32:53Di is one of the
32:53swarm of
32:54independents who
32:55ambushed the
32:56major parties in
32:57safe seats around
32:58the country three
32:59years ago and
33:00she's hoping to
33:01hold on.
33:02Okay Di, so you've
33:03drawn number
33:04three.
33:05Is that good?
33:05I just think it's
33:06great that Labor
33:07is below me.
33:08Right, okay.
33:09Not this time,
33:10last time they
33:10were above me.
33:11Last time you
33:12were number four,
33:12so you're kind of
33:13creeping up the
33:14ballot paper.
33:15Were you worried
33:16about, I mean you
33:17have the same
33:17surname as the
33:19Labor candidate,
33:20were you worried
33:20that you'd be next
33:21to each other?
33:23No, not really.
33:24I mean at the end
33:25of the day she has
33:26a Labor logo
33:28whereas mine is
33:29independent and
33:30I've been out in
33:31this community since
33:32you know I settled
33:34and I think we
33:36have transformed
33:37this community to
33:39people knowing that
33:40they can vote for
33:40an independent and
33:42the world will not
33:42end.
33:44Standing by in
33:50the AEC's
33:51Canberra Nerve
33:52Centre, graphic
33:53designers now
33:54have just hours to
33:55lay out hundreds
33:56of unimpeachably
33:58fair ballot
33:59papers.
34:00Spacing, spelling,
34:02font size,
34:03placement, it all
34:04has to measure up.
34:07There's a lot of
34:08time pressures on
34:08us to get the
34:10ballot papers created
34:11and to the princes
34:13that very night.
34:14Why is it such
34:15tight deadline?
34:16Because there's a
34:17lot of early voting
34:18that goes on.
34:18Right.
34:19And so we have
34:21one day to get
34:21everything right,
34:22100%, and that
34:24just means that the
34:25moment we get the
34:25data, it's all
34:27systems go.
34:27And when the
34:31presses roll, they
34:32roll for days, in a
34:34facility guarded 24-7.
34:38God, the smell of
34:39the ink in the air is
34:40kind of amazing, isn't
34:41it?
34:41It really gets up the
34:42nostrils and gives me
34:44goosebumps.
34:45It's incredibly
34:47exciting.
34:47Fear or excitement?
34:49Both.
34:50Oh, that's good.
34:52We're actually in the
34:53final stages of
34:54printing the ballot
34:54papers, printing 20
34:56million ballot papers
34:57here.
34:58They started at
34:59midnight on Friday.
35:00It's now Tuesday,
35:01and we're nearly at
35:01the end, so they've
35:02been going 24-7.
35:04Nationally, we're
35:05doing about 55 million
35:06ballot papers.
35:08From Braddon in the
35:09ACT, to Ballarat,
35:11to Fernie, to the
35:12Barossa Valley, to
35:13Bunbury, to Barunga,
35:15to Bundaberg, to
35:17Byron Bay, to
35:18Berlin, to Bogota,
35:19these ballot papers
35:21are servicing
35:22Australians.
35:23I hope there's no
35:24spelling errors in that
35:25lot.
35:26There won't be.
35:28I can guarantee you
35:29the amount of eyes and
35:31processes and assurance
35:32measures in place,
35:34there won't be.
35:35You're big nerds.
35:37We love it.
35:48This is a cool machine.
35:51Yeah, so it's getting
35:51batched, batching into
35:53100.
35:53Yeah.
35:54100 into a box,
35:55probably a box of 10,000.
35:57Much quicker than doing
35:58it by hand.
35:59And you have to keep
36:00track of every single one
36:01of them, right?
36:02Yeah, absolutely.
36:03Because it's bad if a box
36:04goes missing.
36:05Not bad, right?
36:06It's not bad.
36:07Like, it's horrendous.
36:10Okay.
36:11So they're batched, and
36:13each batch is absolutely
36:15tracked.
36:15So the security measures
36:16from here, in the
36:18transport process, from the
36:20printer, through to our
36:22transport provider, through to
36:23our account centres, they are
36:25all tracked.
36:27It's a massive accounting
36:28exercise of balancing numbers
36:30printed, numbers out, numbers
36:32in.
36:33The ballot paper is
36:34absolutely sacrosanct.
36:35Like, you know, we treat it
36:37as if it's a blank check.
36:39Every eligible voter in
36:41Australia is entitled to
36:43one of these blank checks.
36:45In 2025, an eligible voter
36:48means an adult citizen, which
36:50seems fair.
36:51But for the first half of our
36:52federation's life, the
36:54definition did not extend to
36:57the continent's first
36:58inhabitants.
36:59The system, our democratic
37:00system, has excluded us.
37:02Aboriginal people for so
37:03long.
37:03And I think that's really
37:05critical, because Australia
37:06really prides itself on its
37:08electoral commission, on our
37:10fairness in voting.
37:13But that's not how it's
37:15played out.
37:16You know, looking back and
37:17joining the dots in Australian
37:18history, it really, it's
37:21really remarkable how many
37:22times there's been one
37:24truculent, passionate
37:27individual who has
37:30stymied a particular move or
37:33sometimes facilitated a particular
37:35move that has had these
37:36long-standing ramifications in
37:39our democratic history.
37:43When the first ever leader of
37:45the Senate, Richard O'Connor,
37:47jovially introduced the Barton
37:48government's franchise bill to the
37:50upper house in 1902, its terms were
37:54radically simple.
37:55It was an extraordinarily broad and
37:58generous standard of franchise.
38:01Effectively, no one was excluded from
38:03it unless you were under the age of 21.
38:05If you were an adult, a British
38:07citizen, and you lived in Australia,
38:09you could vote.
38:10Had the legislation stayed that way,
38:12Australia would have become the most
38:14democratic country in the world.
38:16But it didn't stay that way.
38:20Complications began in the Senate when
38:22Alexander Matheson, a wealthy businessman
38:24who served as Senator for Western
38:26Australia, declared it was an insult
38:28to white women that their upgrade
38:31to full voting status should be shared
38:33with Aboriginal women.
38:35He moved an amendment that prevented
38:37the enrolment of, quote,
38:39Aboriginal natives of Australia
38:40and those of the half-blood.
38:43And I was really fascinated to find
38:45that there were actually many members
38:47of that first parliament who were arguing
38:51in favour of Aboriginal Australians
38:53retaining the vote.
38:55Chief among them was Senate Leader
38:56O'Connor, who argued it would be a
38:58monstrous thing, an unheard-of piece
39:01of savagery on our part to stop
39:03Aboriginal people from voting in their
39:06own country, simply on the basis
39:08of their race.
39:10O'Connor makes quite a passionate speech.
39:12He says, you know, we've taken the land
39:13of these people and we're not even going
39:15to let them vote in their country.
39:18O'Connor stripped out the amendment,
39:20but Matheson struck back with fresh claims.
39:22Western Australia, he told the Chamber,
39:24was full of impressionable Aboriginal people
39:27who could easily be coerced by wealthy
39:29graziers to vote a certain way.
39:32He was worried that certain landowners
39:35would just gather up all of their blacks
39:38and truck them to the polling booth.
39:42The federal parliament will be swamped
39:45by Aboriginal votes.
39:46Matheson thundered.
39:48And it worked.
39:50Over days of debate, support for
39:52Matheson's amendment grew.
39:54O'Connor feared that if he continued
39:56to resist it, the entire bill might be lost.
39:59Reluctantly, politics being the art
40:01of the possible, O'Connor chose to give way.
40:05The Franchise Act that made Australian women the most fully enfranchised voters in the world
40:12also disenfranchised Indigenous people.
40:15And that is how the majority of Aboriginal people were deprived of the vote for six decades.
40:22A brief and ill-informed debate inflamed by the heated views of a determined individual.
40:29For the lifetime of our democracy, for almost half of that period, we've excluded Aboriginal people.
40:36We were unable to contribute to debates about laws and policies that absolutely subjugated our people, whether they were land laws, whether they were child removal laws, whether they were stolen wages.
40:54It's certainly not something that we talk about a lot, but it's a fact.
41:00And that has had the most profound impact upon our people.
41:134,000 kilometres and five generations away from those bruising old debates, a remote voting team is executing the AEC's remit
41:24to collect the votes of Australians, wherever they may be.
41:30This chopper is carrying just dozens of votes from a remote Arnhem Land community, cut off by floods.
41:40They're continuing to Yirrkala, right on the tip of the Gove Peninsula, in the marginal seat of Lingiari.
41:47It's a tiny township with an immense place in Australian history.
41:54So we'll set up down at the back here.
41:56This old church was freshly built back in 1963, when it witnessed the gathering of Yongu leaders coming together to sign the historic Bach petitions.
42:10Today, the church is a polling place.
42:14We're doing for time, for nine minutes.
42:20Duncan, thank you for taking a break from duties of democracy.
42:24What is it exactly that you do for the AEC?
42:26I'm not a full-time AEC employee.
42:28I'm one of the tens of thousands of Australians who put their hand up to participate to work for the AEC during these elections.
42:34This campaign, I've been lucky enough to be part of a very small team that's been going out to remote communities in Arnhem Land, and I put up my hand each election.
42:44I just love the process, love being here.
42:46What do you love about it?
42:48Oh, look, I just love getting out to the remote communities.
42:51I love seeing almost a carnival-y atmosphere when people come together to vote.
42:57Is there anything particularly special to you about conducting the pre-poll in this church, in this community?
43:05It's an incredible community with incredible history, history that's important for Australia as a nation.
43:13To come to this church and to be welcomed into this church to run the polling, it is so special.
43:18You get to tick a few superstars off the roll too, right?
43:21Oh, and this community is renowned for its leaders, for its community leaders.
43:26So you might have people like Yalmay Yunupingu or Widiana Marika coming in to vote.
43:31And they are heroes in the Northern Territory and across Australia.
43:36We need people to put a number in every box.
43:39number-1 consecutive numbers, number-1, 2, 3.
43:44And you can come over and help them too in language.
43:47Good morning, Yirkala.
43:51Good morning, how are we?
44:00Federal election voting.
44:03Yongu people find themselves existing in two systems of government.
44:07government, one that's been around for thousands of years, plus a newer one that's only included
44:13them for a touch over 60, and moves to a vastly different rhythm.
44:18How do you feel about voting in this system, when you're also part of a much older system?
44:24Yeah, as a Yolngu person, we have our own government system, you know.
44:30We have our own laws, but it's said that Australia don't recognise that.
44:39Yolngu law, our law doesn't change.
44:41It's never changed.
44:43It's always the same, you know.
44:46It's still the same today.
44:49But when it comes to the Ngapake law, or the Australian law, you know, it changes all the
44:55time.
44:57Is it unusual to be invited to join a democracy 60 years after it started?
45:08We have what my uncle, Galarui Yunupungu's younger brother, Mandawi, would remind us that we have
45:19double power, because then we have to think both ways, the Yolngu way of thinking and the
45:27Balanda way of thinking.
45:29And how do we put these together?
45:34How does the Yolngu system work?
45:37Not in three year cycles, right?
45:39No.
45:40It's every day almost.
45:42Almost every day.
45:44Yeah.
45:45So the Labor Party?
45:46So me?
45:47Yeah.
45:48Yeah.
45:49You can look on the back.
45:50This is for Lisa Sievert.
45:51Mm-hmm.
45:52So if you want to vote for her, you put number one down the bottom there.
45:55So the turnout in this electorate is lower than it is around the rest of Australia.
46:00Is that because of the logistical difficulties, or what do you attribute it to?
46:05We've still got issues in some areas, and we need to work on that, Annabelle.
46:09I think more resources from, you know, the Australian Electoral Commission, because it
46:14needs to be impartial.
46:16I think it's really important for Aboriginal people to feel part of this system, not excluded
46:23from it.
46:24This one?
46:25There's two options.
46:26If you're voting above the black line, we put numbers 1 to 6 in your choice order, or
46:31we do numbers 1 to 12 on the bottom.
46:33This is the Northern Territory, so I think I'm actually contractually obliged to ask you
46:40if you've ever been threatened by a croc whilst conducting a remote voting.
46:44No, but I have.
46:45A dingo has threatened the voting once and attacked other dogs, you know, that were members
46:50of the community.
46:51Where was this?
46:52And this was in Central Australia.
46:53Tables were upended.
46:55Is it your job to deal with a dingo?
46:57A lot of ballot papers was thrown on the ground to scare the dingo off on that occasion, which
47:01is, you know, not what you do in terms of best practice in dealing with ballot papers, but
47:08every ballot paper was accounted for.
47:09Oh, good.
47:10Wow.
47:11Did the dingo respond to this?
47:12The dingo took off and tables were re-stood up and the voting continued.
47:18Lots of stories like that from the remote teams across the Northern Territory and Northern
47:22Australia.
47:23First name?
47:24Yes.
47:25So when you've flown out all the way to a remote community and you're working there all
47:30day and you come home with a dozen votes.
47:34Tell me why that's worth it.
47:35Oh, look, I think it's still really important because the electorates and the outcomes are
47:40getting very, very marginal.
47:42There's not many safe seats left anymore in the Northern Territory, so every vote counts.
47:46Well, there's no such thing as a safe seat anymore anywhere, is there?
47:49It's becoming that way.
47:50Yeah.
47:51It's the era of disruption.
47:54Welcome to Pebble Beach.
47:55This is the West Wing of the White House.
47:58The influencer invasion.
47:59It feels quite elitist.
48:00As though influencers aren't citizens of this country.
48:03We live in a democracy and influencers have become players in that political game.
48:10Shattering the conventions of the past.
48:12You could just go down to the Prime Minister's office and say, I've got this story that's
48:17going to kill you.
48:18What do you say about it?
48:19Next, on Civic Duty.
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