News

Rush to vote early

By Darren Linton

May 17, 2022

Pouring in: Voters are quick off the mark this time round. Photo by Paul Harris

One in five voters in the electorate of Nicholls have already cast their vote at pre-poll.

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There are 114,542 voters on the electoral roll for the 2022 Federal Election and according to daily data released by the Australian Electoral Commission, 24,291 people have taken advantage of early voting since it opened on May 9.

In Shepparton, 8239 people have voted at one of the pre-poll centres, with 1300 votes cast on the busiest single day.

The pre-poll voting to May 17 represents 21.2 per cent of eligible voters.

Additionally, 12,110 postal votes have been applied for and validated, with 5405 already returned.

Combined, the pre-poll and postal votes (if all are completed) amount to 31 per cent being cast before election day.

At the 2019 Federal Election only 3.73 per cent voted pre-poll and 5.7 per cent postal.

The voter turnout at the 2019 poll was 92.65 per cent, and if the same applied on Saturday, the percentage of eligible votes cast prior to polling day would be closer to 35 per cent.