A tipster tells us that the Australian Electoral Commission’s website has been updated, and its “practice voting” tool now reflects the changes to Senate voting rules. People who are incredibly nerdy can have a go at numbering six preferences above the line for parties named after different weather events. There’s the “Mist Party”, the “Humid Party” and the “Breeze Party” — but no “Hot Air Party”.
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I tried the AEC’s “practice voting” tool. I got frustrated pretty quickly with filling in all those boxes. Imagine what it will be like with a pencil on election day! Most people liked to vote above the line because it was easy. Tick one box and back to the sausage sizzle. Unless the AEC has a really good education program, I suspect there will be an increase in the number of informal votes.