The last federal election saw a sharp rise in harassment and aggression at polling places, according to submissions from around the country. From death threats to deception, the once-peaceful ritual of casting a vote is under threat – and Australia needs to act.

Australian electoral management has an enviable global reputation as well as an unusual level of trust. The peaceful nature of Australian election days has been written up by many, including 19th-century novelist Anthony Trollope.

More recently this peaceful civic ritual has been epitomised as the democracy sausage vibe. But many of those participating as volunteers at polling booths in 2025 think we have lost this vibe.

The Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters (JSCEM) holds an inquiry into the conduct of each federal election and submissions have now closed for the 2025 inquiry.  An astonishing number of the 144 submissions provided evidence of intimidation and harassment at polling places and described the experience as ‘traumatising’.

Also astonishing is the amount of redacted material thanks to a decision by JSCEM to redact names where there were adverse reflections on a party or individual candidate (but not a third party). Whereas groups such as Advance, Repeal the Teals, Keep the Sheep, Better Australia or the Plymouth Brethren could be identified, the party they were assisting was redacted.

However, JSCEM did not prohibit mention of the colour of T-shirts worn by volunteers so party identification was easy. Sometimes those in blue swarming at PrePoll Voting Centres appeared more aggressive than regular party volunteers and were identified as Plymouth Brethren from outside the electorate. Other colours did more to confuse than identify. A volunteer in Wentworth noted that Better Australia volunteers wore yellow vests with ‘Community Advisor’ printed on them, making them look like Australian........

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