Happy Sunday! One thing I love about autumn/fall in Canberra, Australia, is the changing colors of the falling leaves. The pink and purple leaves are definitely my favorite of all the fall colors. Yesterday in Australia we voted in our Federal Election (voting is compulsory in Australia). There are prepolling and postal voting options, and the big day is Saturday when we visit a local school to get our name marked on the Electoral Roll (to avoid a fine) and exercise our democratic right to vote. The tradition is to vote and be rewarded for turning up by purchasing a democracy sausage (usually a fund raising activity for the school). Yesterday in our Christian Romance Reader Gathering Facebook Group I promised I’d share some democracy sausage photos in my post here today. Many thanks to our reader friend, Jenny Blake, for sending me two photos from her South Australian town. My family enjoyed our democracy sausages yesterday, although we were disappointed there was no option to have onions added on top of the beef sausage with tomato sauce (ketchup) wrapped in a slice of white bread. Have you heard of our Aussie sausage sandwiches and/or democracy sausages? Are you an onions or no onions person (sliced brown onions that are grilled on the bbq or fried in a pan)?
Democracy sausage with onions added – photo from Jenny Blake
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Jenny Blake’s democracy sausages (South Australia)
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Democracy sausages (Canberra, Australia)
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A fun loving Aussie girl at heart, Narelle Atkins was born and raised on the beautiful northern beaches in Sydney, Australia. She has settled in Canberra with her husband and children. A lifelong romance reader, she found the perfect genre to write when she discovered inspirational romance. Narelle's contemporary stories of faith and romance are set in Australia and international locations.
Our voting was at 2 places a school and the Town Hall. At the school they do egg and bacon rolls for breakfast (Voting starts at 8) and a trading table/bake sale which normally is over by 10 as many of the mothers then take children to the Saturday sports. At the Town Hall the local CFS (Country Fire Service who are mostly volunteers) held one. We don’t always have one at this venue but its been revamped and there is room for it. They did quite well as many just leave a donation. They had hamburgers (meat patties) as well. The 2 sausages in a crust were mine as I don’t like onion and timed it for my lunch so 2 sausages in a crust is a good lunch. (I also don’t eat a lot of bread so in in one works for me).
We also have the choice of Tomato sauce or BBQ sauce.
No Democracy sausage for me, but I did work for the AEC (Australian Electoral Commission) as an employee. A fascinating behind the curtains look at our voting system.
Hi Narelle! Thanks for sharing. First, this American did not know voting is compulsory in Australia. Or that democracy sausages are served on white bread with onions. Maybe if food was available at polling places in America, more folks would vote. Love seeing the responses from our Australian readers. As a German American, who has traveled foreign countries, I enjoy learning cultural tidbits from around the globe. Thanks. Enjoy the remainder of your Sunday. Best wishes and Happy Writing.
I’ve never heard about democracy sausage, although my brother and his family are naturalised Australian citizens. Those pictures really make me want to eat a sausage sandwich! I’ll take all the onions that I can pile on top, please. :-)
Thank you for sharing about your federal election and the democracy sausages. In some communities in my area (upstate New York), the fire department or another organization will sponsor a meal as a fundraiser on election day.
Hi Jenny, My husband and daughter lined up before 8am (when the polling booth opened) and were too early for the democracy sausage or bacon and eggs rolls. My daughter went to the coast for the weekend and she needed to vote before she headed out of town. My son and I voted in the early afternoon when it was quieter and there was no line. I’m not sure if they ran out of onion or didn’t have it on the menu? There was bbq sauce and mustard as well as tomato sauce available. The school canteen food station had a longer line than the actual polling booth line, lol. Thanks for commenting and providing the photos. 😊
Hi Mary, You would have been busy working for the AEC. I’ve handed out ‘how to vote’ cards at previous elections, which was an interesting experience. Thanks for commenting. 😊
Hi Renate, Food bribery is usually a winning tactic, lol. We have a large hardware store chain called Bunnings (similar to your Home Depot) and every Saturday and Sunday, year round, they have community groups who visit outside their stores with their grills fired up and fundraising via what we call Sausage Sizzles. Election Day is very much a community day with families out and about. It was a beautiful crisp and sunny day in Canberra and perfect for walking to and from the school. My son ran into one of his old school friends at the polling booth and they had a good chat, which was fun. Thanks for commenting. 😊
Hi Milla, The sausage sandwiches are good! Sometimes we’ll have them for dinner at our house with salad on the side, and plenty of onion to pile on the sausages, lol. Bangers and mash (sausages with onion and mashed potato) is another easy dinner option for us. 😊
Hi Beth, You’re very welcome. It’s great when community organisations can use these occasions for important fund raising activities. Thanks for commenting. 😊
I’ve never had democracy sausage, but it sounds good, and I love onions, so I’d want onions on it, too!! We used to go to a church for our voting precinct, and they sometimes had desserts you could buy, and usually were giving away bottles of water, and a few times they had hot chocolate! There were many times while standing in line that I’d see someone I knew, and we’d “almost” yell back and forth! lol!! One time, I was up close to the door waiting to go in, and a friend was about 50 or so people behind me, and we talked to each other, and another friend was about another 50 from that one, so the three of us were talking, and then telling each other we’d see them at the office as soon as we finished voting! lol!! Mom and I started doing mail-in ballots a few years later, though, as she didn’t like going and standing in line when she was older.
welcome today. wow that is one big sausage. I love onions
That is so interesting! I enjoy learning about other countries. I’m not much on grilled onions but I do like raw onions.
I love onions 🧅
It looks interesting 🧐
looks tasty
It was I timed it for lunch time so had the 2 sausages in a crust. Next time I have the sausage first and then come back and vote when there isn’t as big a line up. I use to vote at the school as it normally is quicker to get items from the bake sale and would get there around 8am when it was starting.
I have never heard of the democratic sausage. That is new to me. Congratulatons to the other winners. Thank you for sharing. God bless you.
Hi Narelle! I don’t think I had ever seen pink and purple leaves. They are so pretty!! Also, I had never heard of the democracy sausages. Do you know where that tradition started? I’m a no onions person, lol.
Being an American, I’ve never heard of Democracy sausages, but they sure do look good! I love having grilled bratwurst on a bun with mustard (Brown spicy) and cheese. I’m not a huge onion fan and if I do eat them, prefer sauteed or grilled…like on steak, yum! Of course there’s onion rings too :-)
Happy Sunday IR community!
I’m not a sausage fan or onion one.
I love Italian sausage & will eat onions for sure.
Hi Trudy, yes, the onion is so good! I was glad the line was short this time because my son’s anxiety would ramp up if we were around too many people. Long lines can be a good opportunity to catch up with people who we haven’t seen in ages, lol. Thanks for commenting. 😊
Hi Lori, It sounds like you’d like our beef sausage sandwiches with onion! Thanks for commenting. 😊
Hi Kathleen, I discovered raw onions was a thing when Costco first opened in Australia and their fast food place sold hotdogs with raw onions as a condiment option with the American mustard and ketchup. It’s fascinating learning about food from other countries. Thanks for commenting. 😊
Hi Natalya, Onions are essential, imho, on a sausage sandwich. Thanks for commenting. 😊
I’m not sure if there was a bake sale at the school this year? We weren’t there at the right time, either, because they usually set it up for the mid-morning rush.
Hi bn100, they were tasty! Thanks for commenting. 😊
Hi Debra, I suspect the democracy sausage is a uniquely Aussie invention. Thanks for commenting. 😊
Hi Priscila, The pink and purple are not as common as the traditional fall colors, but they are stunning when they’re changing color.
Re. The origins of the democracy sausage – I had a look on Google and it seems early this century we started adding in a sausage sizzle with the traditional cake stall we’ve always had operating on polling days. Social media photos of political party leaders attempting to eat a democracy sausage (apparently there are ‘wrong’ ways to eat them) became a social media trend, and the hashtag took off on Twitter etc., and there’s now a website that lists democracy sausages polling booth locations. It’s a big fundraising event, and especially lucrative when the voting lines are long over lunchtime. Thanks for commenting. 😊
Hi Trixi, The democracy sausage onions are cooked, like you’d see with steak. Grilled Bratwurst on a bun is not something I could easily find here. Onion rings aren’t a big thing in Australia, and I think it’s mainly Hungry Jack’s (Burger King in Australia) who have onion rings on their fast food menu. Thanks for commenting. 😊
Hi Amy, it sounds like the cake stall offerings would likely be more your thing. Thanks for commenting. 😊
Hi Sylvain, Italian sausage is good! Thanks for commenting. 😊
Oh my, I’ve never heard of a democracy sandwich before. Though it’s been at least three decades since I voted on a Saturday. Working usually so started doing early voting and simply never stopped,. All we had this year was hordes of how to vote pamphlets shoved in our faces in the rain. Got to admire their dedication at standing in the rain all day to hand out how to vote cards for their preferred candidates. Very pleased that our old male Liberal candidate was deposed after decades and looking forward to the possibility of effective independent representation in this electorate. The election results truly show for the first time what happens when you ignore/annoy women and they rise up to be heard! I’m immensely proud of the younger women who said enough of the bullying and lies and engaged the older women to actually take a stand despite the discomfort in going against a lifetime’s trend of not.
Hi Dianne, yes, it was an interesting result. ‘Time for a change’ was definitely in the air. I have volunteered at Prepolling and on Election Day for previous elections, and it’s miserable volunteering when it’s cold and wet outdoors. Thanks for commenting. 😊