Sunrise host Nat Barr has shocked an American woman by pointing out one key difference between the voting rules in Australia and the United States.
Barr is currently on assignment in Washington DC as she covers this week’s presidential election between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, which polls say sits on a razor’s edge.
On Monday, Nat joined co-host Matt Shirvington and Monique Wright, who quizzed her from the Australian studio about the rush on early voting, which has seen millions of Americans cast their vote before the day of the election itself.
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“They’re saying about 74 million people have already voted, which is nearly half of the total who voted last time,” Barr said from the American capital.
“It sounds impressive, but considering that 160 million people voted in the last election and there are about 245 million eligible voters, we’re still about 80 million short.
“It shows how crucial it is to get people out to vote. Voting in the US isn’t compulsory like it is in Australia.
“I mentioned this to one woman, saying, ‘Oh, we have to vote’ and she asked, ‘What do you mean?’ I explained that voting is compulsory.
“She then asked, ‘What happens if you don’t vote?’ and I told her there’s a fine.
“She couldn’t believe it. That’s why you’ll see celebrities like Beyoncé, LeBron James, and Taylor Swift probably performing tomorrow night in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the swing state with the most electoral college votes. It’s why all these stars are turning out to encourage people to vote.”
Elsewhere, Barr spoke with former Obama Administration official Peter Loge, asking him about the latest Iowa poll, which has Kamala Harris ahead in that state, although Trump is the frontrunner in several swing states.
“It could be older women who were involved in the women’s rights (movement) in the early ‘70s saying we are not going back. It could be educators who saw Trump’s rage-fuelled rally in Madison Square Garden saying we are not going to have that,” Loge said.
Barr also asked about the “Bro vote”, Trump attracting large numbers of straight, white Christian males.
“It is interesting. You have two sets of voters, one who would never vote for a woman and the other is younger men who might not have voted and Trump is getting into the fold.
“He is getting them to turn out in ways he hasn’t before which is what he has done in the past historically as well.”