2 weeks Ago By Jamieson Murphy
Thousands of people across the region will cast their vote for the upcoming federal election early, as pre-polling booths open on Tuesday. Login or signup to continue reading For the next two weeks, more than a dozen early voting centres will be open across the seats of Newcastle, Shortland, Paterson and Hunter. Although many people will wait to vote on May 3 - the day of the election - the Australian Electoral Commission expects more than half of all voters to cast an early vote, based on recent trends across all levels of government elections.
Postal and pre-polling makes up at least a third of all votes in every federal division, and in some seats it represents more than 60 per cent of votes. In the 2022 election, Paterson had the highest number of early votes in the region, with more than half of residents (53.7 per cent) submitting a postal vote or visiting a pre-polling centre.
It was followed by the Hunter (49.5 per cent), Shortland (41.8 per cent) and Newcastle (40.
1 per cent). Across the four electorates, about 183,000 people voted at a pre-polling booth and 55,000 submitted a postal vote at the last federal election. "The bulk of our work still happens on election day, but for a variety of reasons it's clear from past elections that more Australians are needing to access early voting options," Australian Electoral Commissioner Jeff Pope said.
"Australian elections are unique and special in many ways - including the variety of voting options provided. In many democracies around the world people have just a single location and single day to cast their vote." Early voting centres open progressively, with some only opening into the final week of the election, and all pre-poll booths will be closed on Anzac Day.
The opening times can vary depending on the booth's location, but pre-polling centres are generally open from 8.30am to 5.30pm during the week, and 9am to 4pm on Saturday.
Applications for postal voting have now been open for some time, with approximately 1.8 million postal vote applications made across the nation. Newcastle Shortland Paterson Hunter Newcastle Herald news director.
Former Tamworth concrete cowboy and Parliament House press gallery hack. Interested in any and all yarns.Whisper g'day mate to me at jamieson.
[email protected] Newcastle Herald news director.
Former Tamworth concrete cowboy and Parliament House press gallery hack. Interested in any and all yarns.Whisper g'day mate to me at jamieson.
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