It's Friday night, Sydney Town Hall. The wind is piercing but it doesn't seem to have stopped the crowds out to have a bit of fun.
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If you call voting fun. Yes, it's one of the pre-poll booths, open for those of us eligible to vote before election day.
But yes, when everyone should be out relaxing, there are queues waiting to vote. There they all are, ruling us off as we state our name and address, asking if we are eligible to vote early.
Polling staff are helping those who can't understand the new voting rules. They are handing out replacement paper for those who've buggered it up despite having had a practice. It's the final 30 minutes before closing and the ballot box is so stuffed that I have to get help making sure my Senate ballot squeezes in. I poke in the last corner of my paper sticking out of the box.
This year, the increase in pre-poll voting has been massive, from around 775,000 in 2013 to 1.16 million at close of business on Saturday – and we are still four pre-poll days to go.
That's nearly a 50 per cent jump (no, we haven't increased our voter base by such a big percentage. It's more like a 6 per cent rise in voters).
So, why are we doing it? Why are we voting early this election?
It's all about the timing.
Rod Smith, a professor at the University of Sydney, who specialises in political parties and elections, says it's partly to do with the date.
"It's been called during school holidays and university holidays, so voters are voting now so they can get away ... and there has been a trend towards pre-poll voting not just in Australia but around the world," says Smith.
So, can anyone vote before election day? Well, yes. And, not exactly.
The deal is that you get asked whether you fit the categories for early voting. The AEC says you can vote early either in person or by post if you are away from your electorate that day or further than eight kilometres from a polling place. Or you might be sick or pregnant; you are religious and voting on a Saturday is a no-no; or "have a reasonable fear for your safety".
I was asked if I was eligible to vote early and when I said yes, there was no prying as to why I had decided I needed to vote early.
Smith says electoral commissions de facto recognise that we all have a lot on, so they kind of encourage the early voting thing.
"The categories are out-of-date and it is one of those instances where lawmakers are turning a blind eye to the way the legislation is being implemented," he says.
In fact, the AEC has done more than turn a blind eye. Jill Sheppard, a specialist in voter behaviour and a lecturer in the School of Politics and International Relations at ANU, says pre-polling has been advertised heavily this year. She believes it is a sign the AEC recognises we all have increasing demands on our times; and that's particularly true of those of us who live in city electorates which have the highest rates of pre-poll voting.
But she says there is another reason this time around: "The campaign has been remarkably uneventful to date – more than half of all voters have made up their mind before the campaign even starts – and they obviously see no need to wait to see what the various candidates have to say before casting their ballot.
"In this campaign even more than usual, the campaign is not likely to have helped many undecided voters make up their minds."
I leave the polling place as more people are rushing in. One woman starts going into a song and dance about how she is heading up to Darwin to see her boyfriend so that's why she wants to vote early. I bump into a friend who I know will be on the campaign trail on Saturday and that's why she's voting early.
And the overwhelming feeling in this little polling place is that everyone trusts everyone else to be doing the right thing. No one asks too many questions, no one ever asks for a photo ID. Smith, of the University of Sydney, says that the only time any jurisdiction tried to introduce photo ID, the next round of politicians chucked it out. Photo ID would be pretty tough, particularly for Indigenous communities, says Smith.
Is there a reason to be trusting? Yes.
Smith says we have never had a case of electoral fraud in Australia.
"There are lots of urban myths. Someone will say, 'I saw busloads of Young Liberals/unionists/greenies yet when you test those claims, they don't stand up."
It relies on trust. And in Australia at least, we are very trustworthy.
Twitter: @jennaprice
