Call me a wonk, a nerd, a bore, but I love election day. The sense of anticipation around who will emerge victorious, the atmosphere on the polling booths, the new trend of doggy bandanas spruiking candidates and, of course, the quintessential election day sausage sizzle. The democracy sausage is one of the joys of election day.

Credit: Paul Jeffers Yet I fear I am an outlier, based on early voting numbers ahead of Saturday’s election. By close of business on Tuesday, just over 4 million Australians had already cast their vote, almost 800,000 more than at the same point in the 2022 campaign. And all without a sausage touching a barbecue.

There is apathy towards politics, no doubt, and this election campaign has been far from inspiring. But is the democracy sausage being replaced by UberEats? Is convenience now more important than the time-honoured tradition of turning out en masse on a single day with our fellow Australians and exercising our democratic right?

Yes, there needs to be flexibility for those groups who need it but early voting has gone too far. Too many people are doing it for ease rather than out of necessity. Once there was the camaraderie of turning out on election day, buying a sausage to support your local school’s P&C and carrying out your civic duty.

Now, rather than embracing the day, voters are schlepping to the 500 early polling centres across the country and casting their ballot early, often before final policies are even released.