Saturday was voting day in Australia for the Federal election. We got to choose a new government – and we did !

I had planned to arrive early at my local polling booth, which opened at 8am. I was there at 7.45am and there were a few people already there, so I lined up behind them, while the various candidate party volunteers were putting up their signs.

I took the opportunity to start a quick sketch of the signs and finished it at home.

I then sketched the people in front of me in the queue. When I looked behind there was another 30 in the line. By the time I left the queue was down the block. I heard that it was like that all day. At this stage the line was moving quickly.

And the Democracy Sausage? It is the colloquial name for a sausage wrapped in a slice of bread, with onion, add you add your own sauce. It is bought from a sausage sizzle (mine was $4) operated as a fundraiser at Australian polling places on election day, often in aid of the institutions that house the polling place or a local group. My local East Melbourne Group had the sausages sizzling by the time I voted. I bought one to eat and one to sketch (and maybe eat). The term seems to have starter in 2013.

Now there is even a democracy sausage website, where people can add their stalls. The big question – if you vote at a polling booth that does NOT have a democracy sausage stall, can you go to another, just to buy a sausage????