The Owl's Election Newsroom - Election Day at MOAD

Exterior of Old Parliament House — Outside Old Parliament House (photo by Maddi Green)

On Election Day 2022, five journalists from The Owl headed to The Museum of Australian Democracy (MOAD) at Old Parliament House, as the former home of Australia’s Federal Parliament temporarily transformed into a massive Polling Place.

A collection of How To Vote cards on the ground — ACT How to Vote Cards (photo by Maddi Green)

First arrival

Voters waited in a long line to enter the MOAD Polling Pace, eager to vote for the future of Australia before hunting down a sausage in bread.

Party volunteers handing out How to Vote cards — Political party volunteers alongside the queue to vote (photos by Maddi Green)

Party volunteers handed out How to Vote cards to voters who perhaps hadn’t made yet up their minds. Here’s what some of those voters had to say:

There were even some furry friends supporting their human candidates, looking forward to receiving pats from voters.

A montage of dogs wearing political party shirts and badges — Good Dogs getting involved in Election Day (photos by Maddi Green)

Where the voting took place

MOAD staff enthusiastically welcomed voters to the building and encouraged them to tour the museum before or after completing their ballot paper.

MMOAD staff in front of Old Parliament House (photo by Maddi Green)

The lines were long — over an hour from back to front — but MOAD had put a lot of effort into creating interesting distractions as the queue snaked through the building.

A sign that reads 'ACT voters queue' beside a long line of people

An old clock inside MOAD — (Photo by Maddi Green)

Newcastle based artist Trevor Dickinson teamed up with MOAD to provide voters with a fun experience, his interactive art work entertaining visitors as they lined up to vote. There was also a bonus gift! Everyone received a goodie bag at the door containing a pencil and a badge.

Trevor Dickinson's 'Meet the Prime Minister' selfie station — ‘Meet the Prime Minister’ selfie station by Trevor Dickinson (photo by Amy Briggs)

Two badges which read 'I voted at MOAD' — Trevor Dickinson’s ‘I Voted at MOAD’ badges (photo by Amy Briggs)

The democracy sausage

Democracy sausages were flying off the hot plate, courtesy of the Tuggeranong Rotary Club.

Beef and vegan sausages were available, both at $4.00 (higher than your average $2.50 Bunnings specimen) but in support a worthy cause.

But the premium prices didn’t deter voters, as evidenced by the sausage line that was, by the afternoon, longer than the voting line.

Two voters holding a line of democracy sausages — Democracy sausages and voters (photos by Maddi Green)

We had a chat to the sausage chefs and hungry voters in the sizzle line about the importance of the humble democracy sausage:

Wrap up

Overall, Election Day at MOAD was an exciting experience, filled with enthusiastic voters, passionate political volunteers, and 2,100 tasty sausages.

For another perspective on the day, check out this package by my colleague Ben Signor, featuring members of The Owl team discussing their experiences throughout the day at Old Parliament House:

The queues for voting and sausages from the porch of Old Parliament House

The front of Old Parliament House against a bright blue sky

A sign that reads 'Democracy, are you in?' — (photos by Maddi Green)