Booth Volunteer Guide · Thank you for signing up to be a Booth Volunteer! Booth Volunteer Guide...

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Booth Volunteer Guide

Thank you for signing up to be a Booth Volunteer!


Thanks to your commitment, the last thing people in your community will see before they cast their vote is your friendly face and GetUp’s how-to-vote card. And with this election race closer than ever, your presence has never been more important!

On election day, thousands of GetUp members around the country will volunteer at strategic polling booths, handing out no-nonsense information about how to vote on important local issues.

Some GetUp members are volunteering at their local booth, others are heading over the border into a neighbouring marginal electorate, while some members are hopping on a GetUp bus to head to a crucial booth a few hours away. The energy around this election is simply incredible.

In this guide you’ll find must-read information about:• Rostering on• What to bring on the day• Who to call on election day for support• GetUp-branded clothing• Overlapping shifts• Tips for handing out • Clean up• AEC polling booth rules • How-to-vote FAQs• Instructions for the Morning Captain• Checklist

This election culminates 3 years of tough, tireless campaigning by our movement - now let’s deliver a Parliament that will truly work for us.

Yours in solidarity,Emma, on behalf of Australia’s one million GetUp members

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Support

Booth Roster

What to bring

Your booth is being managed by an Area Captain, a fellow GetUp member who is coordinating multiple booths in your area. It’s your Area Captain’s responsibility to call you within a few days of signing up to confirm your shift availability and roster you on.

You’re not officially rostered onto a shift until your receive this phone call, so if you haven’t heard from your Area Captain within a day or two let GetUp know by emailing [email protected]

Your Area Captain’s goal is to have every shift covered at every one of their booths. Your Area Captain may ask if you’re able to head to another booth or take on a different or additional shift. If you can be flexible, it’d be a great help.

Your Area Captain will also email you a copy of the finalised booth roster in the week leading up to election day. The roster includes the the contact details of volunteers rostered on before and after you which is useful if you or they are running late and need to update the team. If you miss that email, you can find your booth roster here: http://www.getup.org.au/booth-roster

When it comes to the weather, prepare for the unexpected. No matter what the forecast, make sure you bring or save the following things.

• Hat and sunscreen• A GetUp t-shirt or orange t-shirt (if you have one) • Umbrella (orange would be amazing!)• Jumper (again, orange?) • Comfortable shoes• A bottle of water and snacks to last you through the shift• Masking tape, plastic bags, and a few pens• A copy of your booth roster

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Support Line on election dayWe are all in this together! Don’t be shy to lean on your Area Captain or GetUp Support Line for the help you need on election day.

Call your Area Captain if you face one of these issues:• You turn up to your booth and you can’t see any volunteers or materials• A volunteer doesn’t show up for the next shift• You have run out of how-to-vote cards• If you have any volunteer issue at your booth

Make sure you have saved your Area Captain’s mobile number (you can find this by looking up your booth on the election day map here: www.getup.org.au/electionday)

Call the relevant GetUp Support Line if:• You are having an unresolvable issue with an AEC official• Someone says you cannot hand out GetUp’s how-to-vote cards• Any issue relating to the law• If you cannot get through to your Area Captain• If your Area Captain cannot resolve your issue

Make sure you save your GetUp Election Day Support Line number:• QLD, SA & WA: Renaire 0432 854 570• NSW: Emma 0466 021 581• VIC & TAS: Aline 0435 590 563

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GetUp-branded clothing

When you arrive at your booth

Overlapping shifts

GetUp will provide 5 bright orange GetUp t-shirts at every polling booth. Since it’s winter, in most cases t-shirts can be simply worn over your jumper. When you or another volunteer has finished their shift, you can pass on the t-shirt to the next volunteer. If you’re covering the last shift, please feel free to take the t-shirt home to keep.

At the colder booths, GetUp will provide 5 orange GetUp beanies to wear too. You’ll also have a GetUp badge - one for each volunteer to take home as a momento!

Every booth has a main entrance, the address of which is listed on your booth sign up page. When you arrive, simply look for the GetUp orange! If you’re the first person rostered onto your booth, or there wasn’t anyone rostered on before you, set yourself up and start handing out. If you’re the Morning Captain, read on for more info!

If there a few volunteers rostered on to your shift and there is another major entrance, you might be asked to hand out there to increase our impact.

The shifts at your polling booth deliberately overlap so that your booth is never unattended. That may mean you have to wait 15 minutes for a GetUp t-shirt to put on - but don’t let that stop you grabbing a pile of HTVs to hand out!

This change over period is also an opportunity say hello to your fellow GetUp members, share tips about handing out, and pass on any special instructions from the AEC official.

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What if the next volunteer doesn’t show?If the next volunteer rostered on does not turn up, you can find their number on the booth roster sent to you by your Area Captain. Give them a call and find out if they’re running late or if they’re unable to make it at all. If they can no longer attend, give your Area Captain a call and inform them of the situation. Your Area Captain may ask if you could stay on longer, they may fill in the shift themselves, or give you instructions as to where to leave the materials in a safe place for the next person.

Tips for handing out how-to-vote cardsEmbrace your independence: Unlike political party volunteers, you’re not telling voters to choose one party over another. Instead you’re giving them independent information on an important local issue. This makes you every voter’s best friend.

Use a snappy lineWhen a voter approaches the polling booth, use a snappy opening line. For example:

• “Care about [the issue on your card, eg. your local hospital]? Grab your how to vote here!”• “Compare the parties here!”• “Get your independent voting guide here!”• “I’m not from a party - here’s an independent how-to-vote card.”

Talking about GetUp A lot of voters won’t have heard of GetUp before, and may ask you what GetUp is. An easy way to explain this is to say:

“GetUp is an independent organisation - we don’t support any political party. Today, we’re handing out independent information that compares the parties on the issues that matter. Would you like to have a read?”

Be proactive and smile!Approach as many people as possible - you never know who might accept. Don’t forget to smile, people are more likely to take a how-to-vote card from someone who is friendly and warm.

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Maintain presence:Are the placards are still in place?(The Morning Captain will have set these up at the beginning of the day.) Do new volunteers have a t-shirt? Are you standing in the most strategic place? It’s also important to keep the energy high and have fun!

If a voter disagrees:Don’t be disheartened if someone doesn’t take a how-to-vote card or is unpleasant. The best thing to do is move on to the next voter and keep your cool - never engage in an argument.

Remain independent:While you’re handing out for GetUp and representing the GetUp community, you cannot advocate for any political parties or wear political party material. Booth Volunteers must be independent.

Take a few great photos! Photos help GetUp show Australia the breadth and depth of our massive election day effort. Taking a bit of time and care to take a good photo can make all the difference.

Throughout the day share your photos with GetUp. Don’t forget to include your name, polling booth and electorate. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @getup

What makes a great photo? • Maximum GetUp orange!• Smiling faces, GetUp placards, and how-to-vote cards• Avoid getting other political placards in the shot• See below for a few great examples

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Clean up

AEC Election Day Rules

Are you working the last shift at your booth? Your Area Captain will come around towards the end of the day to pick up any excess materials for recycling - but you’ll probably find yourself at the end of the shift with the placards to take down and a few materials. You can recycle both the HTVs and the placards in a normal yellow-lid recycling bin for paper and plastic. The GetUp t-shirt is yours to take home!

On election day, there are rules set down by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC). It’s really important that you follow all of these rules and comply with any instructions given to you by AEC officials.

Observe the 6 metre perimeterThe closer you are to the polling booth entrance the better, just remember by law you must remain 6 metres from the polling booth entrance at all time - it’s an offence to be any closer. This also means that loudspeakers and amplifiers must not be audible within 6m of the polling booth entrance.

Sometimes a polling booth perimeter can be unclear so check with the AEC official before handing anything out.

Anyone engaging in the following activities within a polling booth or within 6 metres of the entrance is guilty of an offence:

• Canvassing votes• Soliciting the vote of any elector• Inducing any elector not to vote for a particular candidate• Inducing any elector not to vote at the election• Exhibiting any notice or sign (other than an official notice) relating to an election

Unauthorised materialsAs a GetUp volunteer, you must only hand out the GetUp how-to-vote card provided. There are strict legal requirements around the authorisation of how-to-vote materials, which if not adhered to can lead to prosecution.

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GetUp t-shirtsUnlike political parties, you don’t have to take off your GetUp t-shirt if you enter the polling booth. However, if an AEC official directs you to take your GetUp shirt off when entering the polling booth, follow their directions.

GetUp how-to-vote cards inside boothsIf a voter takes a GetUp how-to-vote card outside, they are free to take it to the booth with them. However it is an offence for a person to leave it there as it directs people to vote in a certain way. Encourage voters to hand materials back to volunteers on their way out.

Importantly, do not enter the polling booth to retrieve how-to-vote cards yourself or ask booth staff to retrieve them for you.

Follow all AEC official instructionsIt is an offence to engage in misconduct or disobey a lawful direction from an AEC official in charge of a polling place.

If you feel that the AEC official has given a direction that is not lawful, follow their direction, but ask for their full name and contact details. In the unlikely event this happens, contact your GetUp Support Line number listed below in the guide.

For more details on the laws governing polling places head to the AEC website:http://www.aec.gov.au/

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How-to-vote FAQsWhat’s on my how-to-vote card?GetUp’s electorate-specific how-to-vote cards are the result of months of planning, polling, research and data analysis. The issue featured on your how-to-vote card reflects a priority identified by the GetUp movement, and an issue important to local voters, identified through polling and voter research.

What exactly is a how-to-vote card? How-to-vote cards tell voters specifically how to cast their vote on a given issue. For example, if swing voters in a particular marginal seat or Senate race are most concerned about hospitals funding, the how-to-vote card in that area will tell voters how to number their ballot to get the best outcome for hospitals. This ensures GetUp’s how-to-vote cards will have maximum electoral impact.

How did GetUp pick the parties featured on the how-to-vote cards?GetUp’s how-to-vote cards do not feature every political party, nor do they give a comprehensive review of each candidate’s policy positions. Instead, we prioritised the candidates with the best chance of winning, who are also strong on the issues that GetUp movement cares about. It would be great to feature more parties and candidates on our cards, but including everyone would lead a very complicated final product!

If you’d like to read more about what went into designing the How To Votes, check out getup.org.au/vote - and if any voters have questions, encourage them to visit that page too!

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Have you been confirmed as theMorning Captain?If you’ve received a call from your Area Captain to confirm you’re the Morning Captain at your booth, this information is for you!

A Morning Captain is a Booth Volunteer with a few responsibilities in addition to handing out how-to-vote cards on election day, which start by arriving at your booth at 7am.

Collecting materialsYour Area Captain will give you a call in the next few days to work out how best to get you your booth’s materials. You’ll need to collect materials before election day, because your Area Captain will be busy overseeing multiple booths. There is one box per booth including a few thousand how-to-vote cards, t-shirts, badges, and placards - all of which will fit in the boot or backseat of a car.

What materials are there?One pre-packed box with five t-shirts (M, L, XL), 10 badges, beanies for Tassie and Victoria, and a few thousand how-to-vote cards. You will also be given around five corflutes (placards), each with a different design.

What should you prepare?Depending on if you have zip ties or masking tape, you should make some holes in the placards the night before for your zip ties, or make sure you have a lot of masking tape.

Introduce yourself the the AEC official on dutyWhen you see the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) official, it’s important to introduce yourself and find out if they have any special instructions for you to follow. The closer you are to the polling booth entrance the better, just remember that the AEC requires you to observe a 6 metre distance from the entrance.

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Setting up your boothArrive at your booth at 7am to set up and snag a good position. A good position is as close as possible to the main booth entrance, while respecting the 6 metre exclusion zone.

Unpack your materials to carve out your position, and then position your placards. You want them to be clearly visible where a maximum amount of voters will see them. You can use scissors to make holes for zip ties, or use masking tape to attach them to fences, tie them to poles or prop them up in foot traffic heavy zones outside the booth.

Prep your fellow volunteersAt 7.45am your fellow GetUp volunteers will arrive. Make sure you’re wearing your GetUp t-shirt so they know who you are. Say a warm hello, bring them up to speed about the where you’ve set up materials. Remind them of the 6 metre exclusion zone and any other AEC instructions, and encourage everyone to introduce themselves to one another.

Hand-out to early birds!At many polling booths, there’ll be a line of voters waiting for the booth to open so they can get in early to vote. Ask your 7.45am volunteers to put on a GetUp t-shirt, take a pile of how-to-votes and offer these voters a how-to-vote card so they can have a read while they wait.

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Check list

Thank you!

Before election day: [ ] Make sure your Area Captain has confirmed your shift. If you haven’t heard from anyone to confirm your shift Wednesday, 29 June email [email protected]

[ ] Know your role! If you’re a Morning Captain, you’ll be the first volunteer on the booth at 7am - setting up placards, introducing yourself to the AEC official, and setting the scene for the other GetUp members who arrive. If you’re a Booth Volunteer, be sure to arrive at the allocated time -- either XXX, XXX, XXX.

[ ] Who you gonna call? Make sure you save your Area Captain’s phone number into your phone - find it at getup.org.au/electionday. You can also see below for your GetUp Election Day Support Line number.

On election day: • Get excited! Election day is all about making a difference to the outcome - and it’s also about having fun. Smile, put on your bright orange shirt, and enjoy chatting to local voters! • Get in formation. The closer you are to the polling booth entrance the better, just remember that the AEC requires you to observe a 6 metre distance from the entrance.• Any problems? Call through to a GetUp Election Day Support Line number:

QLD, SA & WA: Renaire 0432 854 570 NSW: Emma 0466 021 581 VIC & TAS: Aline 0435 590 563

Booth Volunteer Guide · Thank you for signing up to be a Booth Volunteer! Booth Volunteer Guide...

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