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How the democracy sausage, a polling day snack, became Australia's election symbol
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A man squirts sauce on his "Democracy Sausage" at the Marrickville Public School in Sydney, Australia, Saturday, May 3, 2025, after voting in the general election. - photo by AP Photo/Rick Rycroft
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Many Australians arriving at polling places on Saturday followed their civic duty by eating what’s become known as a democracy sausage, a cultural tradition as Aussie as koalas and Vegemite, and for some just as important as casting their vote. The grilled sausage wrapped in a slice of white bread and often topped with onions and ketchup is a regular fixture of Antipodean public life. But when offered at polling places on election day, the humble treat is elevated to a democracy sausage — a national, if light-heated, symbol for electoral participation.