The most talked about Aussie politicians during #AusVotes22

Australia prides itself on its unique elections – from the iconic #DemocracySausage, to dogs at polling booths, and voting in swimwear, civic participation in Australia is like no other country.

In Australia, there were 4.2 million #Auspol related Tweets from the day the election was called on 11 April through 22 May. Here’s how conversation played out across the country during the 2022 Federal Election.

Aussies flocked to Twitter on election day itself with 250K Tweets in Australia! The beloved #DemocracySausage hashtag and emoji trended for 10 hours on 21 May, including as the #1 trend in the country.

In fact, the #DemocracySausage emoji cemented itself as the top emoji of #AusVotes22 – accompanying 30K election-related hashtags during the campaign. These incredible statistics were aided by @DemSausage who used Twitter to crowdsource (or should that be… crowdsauce?) data about #DemocracySausage availability at polling booths across Australia.

Their voting intention wasn’t the only decision Australians were faced with on election day… a new emoji entered the election cycle for those preferring sweet over savoury – the #DemocracyCake!

From politicians to protecting the election conversation

The election saw the Australian Labor Party form government, with new Prime Minister Anthony Albanese taking to Twitter to thank Australians and outline his aims for the top job.

In fact, @AlboMP was the most Tweeted about politician of the election campaign followed by former Prime Minister Scott Morrison (@ScottMorrisonMP), and then Greens Leader Adam Bandt (@AdamBandt).

From first-time to seasoned voters, Twitter is a space for everyone to source information and diverse perspectives, and to discuss the political issues, topics, and candidates that matter to them most. Twitter’s purpose to serve the public conversation is never more critical than during an election, which is why we took additional steps and action to protect the integrity of #AusVotes22.

Twitter partnered with the Australian Electoral Commission (@AusElectoralCom) – who are responsible for administering Federal Elections Down Under – in launching a voter education quiz. The quiz helped inform Australians about preferential voting, the security of ballot papers, and how Aussies could BYO pencil or pen to vote with. 

A dedicated election search prompt provided authoritative information when people search for keywords or hashtags associated with the Federal Election. A notification at the top of the search results on Twitter directed people to credible information from the AEC about the electoral process.

The AEC was praised for their use of Twitter to combat misleading information and defend democracy – before, during, and after the election. 

Following Twitter’s decision to ban political ads introduced in 2019 and in line with our civic integrity policy, we labelled misleading Tweets to provide additional context as part of our broader efforts to protect against manipulation of, or interference in, the Federal Election.

Twitter will continue to work together with elected officials, government entities, industry, experts, and other stakeholders to continue empowering Australians to hold their elected representatives accountable through dialogue and healthy political conversation.

Twitter is what’s happening and what people are talking about right now – for more, follow @TwitterAU