As many of you know, I tend to be working on election weekends, and so for attendance elections I'm able to vote early.

So this morning, before lunch, I voted.

My attitude to voting has morphed over the years. The first time I voted I voted for a person (the leader of a political party) based on what I vaguely saw on the news. As I gained more understanding of how Australian politics works I started to vote for parties rather than the leaders of those parties based on my vague understanding of what that party stood for.

This time around, with more understanding of the process than I ever wished to have, I spent the time researching individual candidates.

With the recent important "conscience" votes being allowed in parliament, the attitude of the person I'm voting for is just as important as the party they're attached to. They may be "party X" but have they ever crossed the floor? What are their own personal views on topic X? What is their portfolio?

Only having to enter five numbers below the line for the Upper House was too tempting. The ability to completely leave some parties out of my preferences was too hard to ignore.

Researching Upper House candidates was interesting. Many appeared not to exist, at least according to Google. To be fair, most were first-time candidates, however when you look at the ballot paper on a candidate level, do you really know who you're voting for when you vote above the line for a party?