Tally Room 2007?

I worked for the AEC last election, having a drink or three after clean up was a perk for those of us still there at 1AM, but being hit up by the Teltra staff wanting to know where they could find our stash ws a bit harsh.

Actually Skid, there is a new functions manager out at EPIC so there is all new different types of food.

Why would you want to go out to EPIC, watch the tally room and get pissed? You bad ass you. Next year maybe you can go to a Line-Dancers lesson and cause a real stir.

In answer to the original question:
There is no bar.
There is an overpriced canteen, who will sell you crap and tell you to be thankful for it, in true EPIC style.
Trying to bring in booze will probably get you arrested\shot\mauled by the attack & sniffer dogs.

“the major networks defended it, but weren’t willing to foot the bill themselves”

Was it Marlene Dietrich who said “Well they would say that wouldn’t they?”

Pretty cheap 3 hours of tele for them to produce when you think about it. Everything laid on courtesy of Jo Taxpayer. Various ‘talents’ willing to front up for nix for a chance to trot out their spin one more time (for the benefit of swinging those WA people who haven’t voted yet).
And no concerns that people who are bored will change to another channel because they’ll all be showing the same stuff just with different talking heads…

On taking water etc, thanks for the warning. Or you could just rely on the usual massively over-priced junk food that EPIC always shafts people for…

I maintain that 1,000,000 is a low seven digit figure. But I would have thought the cost increased since 2004.

‘Freakish’ for the fact that it only goes for three hours, maybe one of which is interesting, but very easily replaced by the online live-tallying tool they’ve been using since the last election. $300k/hour is a bit steep for something people can see for themselves at home.
As one of the employed though, explaining what I was doing to a political reporter from Japan who spoke minimal English and half a dozen Telstra techs worried for their jobs was reasonably interesting.

BTW, when the AEC threatened to pull it last time citing cost concerns, the major networks defended it, but weren’t willing to foot the bill themselves.

Recent media reports have the cost of running the tally room at around $1m.
I’ll be there, as it may be the last time it runs.

Wouldn’t it be nice if the next time around it was all electronic voting. No donkey votes. No mistakes. No contested results.

And if the timeframe for voting in each state was skewed such that it opens and closes the same ‘times’ through the whole country i.e. start one hour later in east and 1 hour earlier in the west.

No WA people watching the results elsewhere in the country and then going to vote and perhaps changing the course of the election as a result.

So come say 7pm, within a few minutes you have the entire result.
“Tell him he’s dreaming…”

AEC budget around 90 mill for Federal Elections and about 60 mill for referendums

The Tally Room was great fun to work in last year, pissing down rain and a leaky roof, three phase power cables running along the floor to microwave comms hookups and servers…
Even though the election was effectively over as far as AEC staff were concerned by about 1900hrs (statistical indicators make it really quite boring after the first hour, most elections), staff got paid a fortune for staying back til 0230hrs for bump-out.

It costs something freakish (low seven figures) to organise and run, but the AEC foot the bill.

Not sure if it is building B or not. It is more or less the first you come to on your right when you enter from Flemmington Road (the main enterance). Where the lifeline book sale is held. As for the hockey when I played indoor at NATEX as it was then know it was the building about 3 futher on.

Surely the building can hold 500 odd prisoners.