A week to go til the election and I'm amazed at the numbers of people who've already voted. All around my neighbourhood, there's been a steady stream of people filing in to cast their votes from the time the booths opened – I took a photo just the other day of three young people who wanted a memento of the day they cast their first vote, bless them.
What staggers me is how everyone can be so certain. Certain about their chosen candidate and party and certain about their answers to the referenda questions. I suppose some people are tribal voters and vote the same way every election; whereas I tend to weigh up policies and past performances and personnel. I'm getting there – but I'm glad the election was delayed as I've needed the extra days.
I had to have quite a think about the referenda, too. We've talked about both the legalisation of cannabis and the End of Life Choice Act at length on the radio and I've also enjoyed some robust discussions with friends and family, who are both for and against on the issues.
A friend of mine who I've always seen as a liberal is voting no because, she says, she saw what it did to people when she was living in Venice Beach, in California, for a number of years. If it was speed we were voting to legalise, she said, she'd have no doubts whatsoever. We'd boost our sluggish productivity and get rid of our obesity problem in one fell swoop! But dope, nope.
I think it's fair to say my friends are pretty evenly divided on the cannabis question but when it comes to the End of Life Choice Act, most of us are for it. We've all been lucky enough to have had pretty splendid lives so far, and for us, we want to live, not exist. Most of us believe that simply drawing breath does not constitute life. At the same time, I totally respect those who believe otherwise and if your faith precludes you from ticking the yes box, that's entirely your business.