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Saturday, September 7, 2013

September 7. Day 250. Vote 1 for Democracy

This is how I voted. I voted with a puppy sitting on my shoulder and my 15-year-old son standing behind me. What numbers I put in which square doesn't matter and I'm not going to tell you.
You can choose to think I chose this image because I'm a Rudd supporter or because I'm happy to see Rudd fading away. It's a free country. Interpret how you will, that's the power of democracy.
I love that I live in a country where it is perfectly safe to walk to the polling booth with some of your nearest and dearest with not a care in the world.
I love that as a nation our biggest concerns when selecting a place to vote were sausages and parking and not personal security and lack of intimidation.
I love that in the moments before the poll closed, a couple of young blokes at my local polling booth were playing balloon tennis/football with a Kevin Rudd balloon while they waited for a mate to vote.
I love that I could see a conversation on Twitter between one of my son's teachers and the Prime Minister's wife. Here we can all be open about our political views or secretive if we prefer.
For the 15 years of my son's life I have refused to tell him which way I vote because I wanted him to form his own views. I love that he has become a political animal in his own right and was today wearing a party political T Shirt. I love that it is safe for him to do so and only now would I let him see my ballot paper. Whether his views and mine align doesn't bother me. He is free to choose.
Tomorrow morning something over half the country will wake up elated and the rest deflated.
But you know what? We should all delight in the fact that no matter which of those groups you belong to, in three years you will get to do it all again freely and with a sausage in hand. That's democracy for you.

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