Electioneering

A collection of resources for people wishing to help on or before election day. Be it handing out how to votes, flyering, letterboxing, etc etc.

Polling Places

Where can I Vote? AEC Polling place finder
Find my Electorate AEC Electorate finder.

We need your help to volunteer to issue How to Votes on election day. If you can help, please contact [email protected]

Please note that we will only be active in NSW, QLD and VIC due to limited state locality of standing candidates.

While you are welcome to volunteer at your local polling place, please take a look at the following map and consider picking a polling place that is a busier/more popular one so we can get exposure to more people for your efforts.

Polling place map

Legend: (low to high): Purple, Blue, Green, Yellow, Red
(So try to choose a Red or Yellow location)

Handing out How to Votes, advice and reminders

Firstly, thanks for volunteering to hand out How to Votes (HTVs). How to Vote handouts on the day will likely many people's first ever exposure to us, and so could potentially be our most important opportunity for community engagement to date. As such your assistance is greatly appreciated and we ask that you keep the advice on this page in mind.

Handing out HTVs is not actually a chore. It is a rare chance to engage with many other people, to share your views, and to listen to theirs. It is an opportunity to try to make the world a better place. The interesting thing about this is that almost every other person handing out HTVs (and many of the people actually casting votes) also believe that this is an opportunity to make the world a better place. That their party, or candidate, will do a good job, and is also working to make the world a better place, in their own way. You may have misgivings about their ideology and/or methods, but we are all playing the same game here. We all (or, at least, most of us on the ground who are willing to volunteer) are decent people, regardless of what we believe. And we can and should try to respect each other. Be cool. Talk. Learn. Have fun.

Legalities

Please note:

You must be at least 6 meters away from the entrance to the polling booth (see http://www.aec.gov.au/faqs/voting_australia.htm#stall)
You cannot obstruct voters from accessing the booth.
People are not obliged to take your How to Votes.
Do not wear PPAU regalia (t-shirts etc.) into the polling place when you vote (cover up with a jumper/jacket/etc.)
AEC background material can be found at: http://www.aec.gov.au/About_AEC/Publications/backgrounders/index.htm

Election day supplies

Your candidate, state or local co-ordinator, or a nominated person should hopefully have arranged a means to get a supply of How to Vote cards to you before or on election day, as well as possibly corflute election signs and possibly other marketing items.

For your own comfort, health and safety, please also consider having the following:

A Hat and/or Sunscreen
Water Supply
Food
You may wish to consider bringing some kind of portable seating
Be sure to take a break and take some time out
Avoid alcohol (at least until all your How to Vote cards are handed out and you are done for the day)

Do

Wear sunscreen.
Drink plenty of water.
Eat (bring spare change, there will almost certainly be sausages).
Cover your Pirate Party T-Shirt and any other propaganda when entering the building to vote yourself or use the bathroom. Nobody wants to violate electoral law.
Talk to other HTV volunteers from other parties.
Be happy. Smile!

Do Not

Get sunburned.
Get dehydrated.
Starve.
Attempt to re-enact your favourite swashbuckling pirate movie.
Hand out HTVs immediately next to another party with similarly coloured HTV cards. Our stuff is blue. If you're standing next to another blue party, the punters will ignore you. Contrast wins.
Sneer at, or fight with, those who have different views to you.

Talking to people/media

It can be useful to brush up on our info, policies and so on, especially as a small bit of prep in case someone asks you a question at the polling booth.

It can be helpful to have a hard copy precis of our policies available. You will almost certainly not need this, but the one time someone asks you for excruciating detail you'll be glad you brought it with you, especially if the battery in your phone just died, or the network fell over.

For everyone else (random voters and passersby), figure out an an "elevator pitch". Think: What is this party? What can you say in a hurry that makes sense? A very short form might be "Pirates in the Senate!", a longer form might be "we stand for personal privacy, government transparency, copyright reform and human rights". Longer than that, and most voters will have already wandered off to vote, or to get a sausage.

Policy briefs	Short sentence and 5 point summary on each of our policies. Quick and easy brushup of the main points.
FAQ	Frequently Asked Questions off the main website
Platform	The full lowdown on all our policies
Policies	List of links to full text of each individual policy
Candidates	Pic and Bio of our candidate

Dont forget our:

Members area: https://members.pirateparty.org.au/
- new members here: https://members.pirateparty.org.au/members/new
Donation Page: https://pirateparty.org.au/donate/
Volunteer/Contribute Form: https://pirateparty.org.au/gettinginvolved/
Calendar: https://pirateparty.org.au/calendar/

Pirate Cosplay guidelines

We understand people's desire to dress in pirate regalia while partaking in Pirate Party activities such as handing out How to Vote cards on election day.

Keeping in mind that we are a party that does intend to be taken seriously and not be viewed as a joke party, the image of pirate costumes is not our favoured approach, however we do not wish to be killjoys, and allowing volunteers to dress as pirates is tolerable. If you're keen, a minor accessory or two (a vest, a hat, a bandanna) can draw the eye - but at the same time, this isn't the Wiggles, and we don't want a circus.

It is important for such volunteers to remember that they are not official spokespersons for the Party. As such, should they encounter media attention during the course of their work, they are not to represent themselves as officials of the party. They should be familiar with the talking points available here when engaging with electors (See links to policy, platform and policy briefs above)

Please also note:

In spite of the name, we're still a serious party with a serious message. We do not wish to see that message diluted by media representatives looking for the amusing story in the election to fill an unread column or thirty seconds of background footage. In light of this please consider:

Excessive use of the Cornish accent should be discouraged or avoided entirely.
If volunteers in costume are asked for a statement then they should direct journalists and media to officers of the Party or to the candidates. If that is not possible then they should stick to the material in the above links.
We expect most volunteers will not be in costume and will still need to adhere to the (developing) electioneering guidelines (see above).
in addition, if these volunteers are not actually members of the Party then maybe they should identify as 'privateers' rather than 'pirates'.

Marketing materials

You can obtain a digital file of the How to Vote here: https://pirateparty.org.au/election/

Also, your local candidates and coordinators may be able to provide Volunteers with badges and stickers as well as corflute signs and How to Vote flyers for use on election day. Please email them, or [email protected] to volunteer and for us to arrange pickup/dropoff of supplies etc.

Making your own

In an election period, anything that can influence a persons vote towards a party, needs to be formally authorised by a representative of the party, usually the Secretary, and include text stating that authorisation on the materials. So election materials need to be authorised by the party. It is best if you contact the Campaigns Committee with your offer to assist and with your ideas/designs. Please note that printed materials also require the name of the printer and their location -- which means you might need to modify a file or have it modified for you.

Design Resources

Design guidelines (output requirements, file formats etc): https://pirateparty.org.au/wiki/Design
Identity Style Guide (official colours, logos etc): https://pirateparty.org.au/wiki/Identity_Style_Guide
Press Kit (much the same as Identity style guide above, but designed for easy access by media outlets) https://pirateparty.org.au/wiki/Press_Kit
Posters and Flyers in current rotation: https://pirateparty.org.au/wiki/Posters

Election Signs

We have corflute (corrugated plastic) election signs. If you wish to obtain one for display in your yard or such a location, please email [email protected].

When putting up a sign, there are several proven methods. The first method is to attach it to a fence (or whatever) at each corner with cable ties or similar (making sure to put the holes at least 2 cm in from each edge). The second is to affix it to a single wooden stake, attaching at two points down the centreline. (You should use 'button-head' or 'stitching' screws together with a washer, or else your sign is liable to shake free in the breeze; this author recommends 8-gauge screws with a 5/16 inch inner diameter washer.) Thirdly, you can improvise an A-frame by connecting two signs together at the top corners and weighing the bases down somehow.

In certain circumstances, it may be useful to put up unmanned signs at less-populous booths, with a small supply (not more than 50) of HTVs attached. One way to attach HTVs is to use a small nail to punch a narrow hole near the edge of the HTV flyers (6 mm in strikes a good balance between strength and removability). Then thread some stiff wire (perhaps a large paperclip) through the hole. Attach wire/paperclip to the edge of the sign with a cable tie. This technique works particularly well with small flyers -- A4 is arguably a little large. This would also work well with an A-frame, but A-frames probably shouldn't be left unmanned as they aren't very stable in windy conditions.

You can see some photos of a number of these techniques here: https://imgur.com/a/QXgi0

T-Shirts & Merchandise

A range of t-shirt designs are now available, along with stickers and badges. Ordering information will be updated here eventually. We are still in the process of arranging our own suppliers and ordering methods. If you simply cannot wait, then you can obtain shirts and other products from the below online, print on demand stores. Please keep in mind that this is probably a more expensive option, it does not raise much in the way of funds for us, and we cannot attest to the quality of the products or length of time it may take for shirts to arrive in the mail. Basically, your mileage may vary. We will be adding links here at the come online, and we will be sure to update when our own supply and ordering system becomes available.