The Full Moon Cafe in Norseman's town centre bustles through a midday rush when a woman walks in and takes the floor.
She stands to the side of the room and, over the screech of frothing milk and jolly lunchtime chatter, calls on diners to vote in an Australian Electoral Commission referendum.
"We've got voting papers here for everyone," she says, before walking from table to table, handing out ballots.
But, despite the formality, today's vote is only a practice run.
The Australian Electoral Commission is joining groups in Western Australia's Goldfields and Pilbara to run a series of "mock referendums" across Coolgardie, Norseman, Halls Creek, Marble Bar, Warburton, and Leonora.
The idea is to help voters understand the referendum process, enrol to vote, and identify misinformation before the Voice to Parliament is put to people, later in the year.
If successful, the model may eventually be rolled out nationally.
WA behind on Aboriginal enrolment
Darius Evans-Wicker has never voted before.
But the Ngadju ranger, who spends his days caring for country and sacred sites across the vast Norseman region, plans to have a say on the Voice to Parliament and wants to get prepared.
"I've come along just to get a better understanding of what a referendum is because I've got absolutely no idea," the 23-year-old said.
The first step, as he soon learns, is enrolling.
Across Australia, 97 per cent of the eligible population have enrolled to vote.
But among Indigenous Australians, that number drops to 84.5 per cent.
Western Australia has the lowest Indigenous enrolment rate in the country, with only 74.1 per cent signed up.
Danielle Savage, the Australian Electoral Commission's acting state manager for Western Australia, hoped the mock referendums would help improve that figure.
"We acknowledge that our rates are a little bit lower," Ms Savage said.
"But we're so vast and that's the challenge for us out here."
She said in the past six months the number of Indigenous Australians enrolled to vote increased by 3 per cent.
Another strategy for increasing enrolment was signing up local staff members, called Community Electoral Participation Officers.
"They'll be in a number of communities," Ms Savage said.
"Getting their locals, getting their family, getting their friends all signed up."
Referendum question difficult to translate
Sue Hanson, the CEO of the Goldfields Aboriginal Language Centre, said it had worked closely with small communities to come up with a mock referendum question that made the process accessible and could be answered either "yes" or "no".
In Norseman, residents were asked: "Is Norseman the horse (the town's namesake) more famous than the tin camel roundabout (a local attraction)?"
The question at Coolgardie was: "Is a sausage roll better than a meat pie?"
Ms Hanson said the language centre, which has taken a neutral stance on the voice, was also working to translate the upcoming referendum question into Aboriginal languages, including Ngaanyatjarra and Pitjantjatjara.
She said this was difficult, but necessary to avoid misunderstanding and to stamp out misinformation.
"The framework, the sentence structure that the referendum question is framed around doesn't translate very well," she said.
"The word 'referendum' for example … referendum didn't exist in Aboriginal society.
"Even 'voting' is a difficult concept."
'A good thing to learn'
Ann Ocon looks forward to voting in the referendum once she becomes an Australian citizen.
After moving from the Philippines more than five years ago, she hopes her Australian citizenship ceremony will be held before the referendum at the end of the year.
"By the time the referendum comes I might be able to vote," she told the ABC, at Norseman's mock event.
"So it's definitely a good thing to learn for me how to do it."
Many people who went along to the mock event had never been part of a referendum previously.
For many, that is simply because they were not of voting age when the last one was held in Australia 24 years ago.
Ms Savage said it was also focused on helping young people through the process.
"Our social media is very active [with] people asking: 'What is a referendum? 'How do we do it? 'What should we do?'" she said.
Worthwhile process
Ballots, from the polling booth and from the bag collected at the cafe, are poured on a table and three staff start tallying.
It only takes a few minutes for the final count to come in — 66 vote yes to 29 no — and Norseman the horse is officially declared more famous than the town's tin camel roundabout.
It has gone Mr Evans-Wicker's way, although he was not entirely confident a few hours ago.
"I'm a logical thinker and a lot of tourists do come by and see the camels," he said.
But importantly, he is now enrolled and feeling a lot more confident about voting on the Voice.
"I do feel a lot more comfortable," he said.
"I found it very interesting. Just how simple the process [was]."
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