The figures keep defying the reality.
68,000 votes were cast on Monday.
That day was a problem according to the conspiracy theorists who suggested that not only had enrolling closed early, but the opening day of voting was a public holiday and for some reason voting on a day off may prove to be some sort of issue.
At 68,000, that is more than in 2023. So what does that mean? Nothing.
But you could suggest it's an early turnout, which means a bigger turnout by the time this is over. A bigger turnout would be welcome because we should all be interested in democracy and, more importantly, actually participating in democracy.
It's one thing to enrol, and here is the real story that the conspiracy theorists might like to spend more energy on: enrolment is not as important as turnout.
Being on a roll isn't as important as actually voting.
Last time only 77% turned out. That’s not great. You need to well and truly crack 80% for a good day at the office.
The conspiracy folk need to be careful because when this washes out, they run the risk of looking like nutters.
Trevor Mallard mouthing off on social media about his hall being closed, then banging on about voter suppression, had 'tin hat' written all over it, not to mention his inability to google a polling place that was open.
My guess, if you want one, is an early flourish of voting indicates my long-held suspicion that this is one of your more predictable elections.
This is a bloc election. The bloc that runs the place deserves three more years, or not.
There are not actually a lot of game-changing policies. There is a lot of small policy designed to get daily clicks from the media.
I'm convinced the vast majority of us know who we are voting for and have known for some time, so day one was a chance to tick a box and get on with life.
My great hope is it continues, turn out is high, the Mallard's and tin hatters get back to their Telegram feeds and if the left lose, they don’t use it as an excuse.
Because that would be what a sore loser would do.
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