US Election: half a world away it’s still party time

The mood at two American election day parties in Sydney was tense as the throng of largely left-leaning Americans watched ­results roll in.

Trump supporters Lucas Di Cicco and American Lance Conway at a US election party at the Cheers Bar in Sydney. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Bianca De Marchi

The mood at two American election day parties in Sydney was tense as the throng of largely left-leaning Americans watched ­results roll in.

With a nailbiting count that remained undecided by Wednesday night, Democrats warned it wasn’t over yet.

The parties at Sydney’s 3 Wise Monkeys bar in George Street, hosted by Sydney Democrats Abroad, and the Cheers Bar up the road, hosted a pumping pack of election-watching tragics.

Deana Sinatra, a lifelong Democrat, voted for Joe Biden in her home state of California. At the last election I just started crying. I put my life on the bet that he wasn’t going to win,” she said.

Dressed as the Statue of Liberty and clad in the American flag, Ms Sinatra was among many Democrats at the 3 Wise Monkeys.

A few blocks away at the Cheers Bar MAGA hats were in full display with a solid group of Trump fans yelling in celebration.

Australians Morgan Qasabian and Robert Wilkinson had been drinking and watching the election since 9am, but American Trump voters were in far fewer numbers. Separated between levels — Democrats downstairs and Trump supporters upstairs — the divide was bridged by NRL State of Origin watchers preparing for the big game.

Michael Wellard, a registered Republican from Virginia, said this was the second time he hadn’t voted for Donald Trump.

“This is about our values as a country. It’s really important that we have a leader that reflects who we are and our sense of ­humanity,” he said

Mr Wellard, who had supported Mitt Romney in 2012, said Mr Trump didn’t believe in a Republican platform of smaller government.

Indiana native Alexa Stegemoller and her Australian husband George Murray were watching the votes come in, mourning that her home state had remained red.

“Always does,” she said, still holding out hope Mr Biden could take the presidency.

Ms Stegemoller said she found the bevy of Australian Trump supporters strange. “None of them can explain why they ­support him,” she said. “When you ask them about policy none of them can say anything.”

Many partygoers had already voted before election day, with Democrats Abroad Australia having run a campaign for months to ensure enrolment and voting for many expats.

Democrats Abroad Australia national chairman Kent Getsinger was watching the count from Adelaide. The American, who moving from Kentucky to Australia nine years ago, voted weeks ago. He said voting in the US was challenging enough, but the contrast in Australia was stark.

“Any voting system where there is mandatory attendance and where voting is made so ­accessible, such as early voting and voting in different locations, is a good one,” he said.

For some, voting came down to the last day, with some states accepting ballots by fax or email, while for others the mail system had spirited away their ballots weeks earlier.

Voting is handled on a county and state basis in the US, meaning Americans are unable to lodge their votes at their local diplomatic mission. But the US consulate in Sydney had offered access to its diplomatic bag system to ensure fast transportation from one side of the Pacific to the other.