The Wider Image: Herding votes in Australia's outback
Social worker Kelly Ann Mackay and goat farmer Heather McInerney have made sure even those in the most remote parts of the New South Wales outback get a vote in Saturday's Australian elections. The duo are one of three Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) teams that set up 10 temporary booths over a 393,473 square km stretch of outback that is home to 107,409 of the state's 5 million registered voters. The area makes up 48 percent of Australia's most populous state but postal services can be unreliable meaning Mackay, McInerney and co must drive thousands of miles to collect the votes. Similar teams work across other states in Australia, where voting is mandatory and more than 15 million people are enrolled. One temporary NSW booth was set up last week in Enngonia, a tiny outpost near the Queensland border, some 860 km (535 miles) north west of Sydney, where kangaroos heavily outnumber people. The two women have set up their green marquee tent on a dirt patch of park in Enngonia, whose few buildings include a pub, a school and a war memorial hall. Around 30 people submitted their ballots in the purple voting bag during the four hours that Mackay and McInerney opened the booth, which was also visited by curious dogs. REUTERS/David Gray TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY SEARCH "VOTE OUTBACK" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "THE WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. Matching text AUSTRALIA-ELECTION/OUTBACK
