Around 500 pre-poll voting centres have now opened their doors [9 May] all over the country. And this year, the Australian Electoral Commission is estimating that around half of registered voters will have made their choice before election day on May 21.
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Election campaigns are busy for politicians but increasingly those registered to vote are choosing to do so before those campaigns are complete, and there are many reasons why.
"I have a health problem so that's why I come in. I always vote early because I get dropped off and get picked up."
"I've come to vote early because I'm leaving to fly to Europe on Thursday so I'll not be in Australia when the election is held. "
"We always do that, we always do pre-vote, yes."
Highlights
- Early voting has increased markedly in recent years.
- Some candidates have called for more help for people for whom English is a second language.
- Australian Electoral Commission says it's already doing what it can to help voters whose first language isn't English
With COVID-19 still very much on people's minds, this election, in particular, may see many voters choosing to do so before the big rush on election day itself.
Australian Electoral Commission Spokesperson Evan-Ekin Smyth believes that trend will continue in this election.
"Of course, we're conducting this election in a COVID pandemic. If you combine postal voting and pre-poll voting at the previous federal election in 2019 it was about 40 per cent of voters turned out prior to election day. You could potentially see half the Australian voting population turning out before election day at this Federal election."
