‘It will be a close one’: Early bird voters rush Cairns pre poll station

Pre-poll numbers in the Far North have almost topped the last federal election as voters scramble to fill their ballot weeks before the big day.

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PRE-poll numbers in the Far North have almost topped the last federal election as voters scramble to fill their ballot nearly two weeks early.

Figures for Cairns show that as of the end of last week, 3960 voters had pre-polled at Grafton Street, just 38 shy of the total 2015 figures.

Volunteers at the pre-poll station said the Cairns CBD location was rushed by voters last week.

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“People are really preferring to pre poll rather than come in on the day - it is really starting to take off,” Liberal National Party volunteer Gerry Vallianos.

“I think pre polling is definitely the way of the future.”

The turnout peaked on Friday with 947 votes cast.

John Lee of the Maritime Union, which has preferenced the ALP, said he had seen a wide cross section of voters take advantage of pre polling.

“There has been a lot of elderly voters, families and more indigenous people come through,” Mr Lee said.

“The majority won’t take flyers; they have made up their minds.”

Pre polling for the upcoming federal election continues, even on the public holiday. Palmer United Party supporter Hans Batzke hands out how to vote cards to voters, flanked by (L-R) Gilbert Moase, Steve Blacklow of the Australian Council of Trade Unions and Edin Corhodzic. PICTURE: BRENDAN RADKE

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Volunteer for the ALP Alan Griffiths predicted a close race on May 18.

“We have had a good reception with voters; it will be a close one,” Mr Griffiths said.

Unsurprisingly, those out for the Palmer United Party were fielding questions relating to Queensland Nickel.

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The early voting trend in Leichhardt has followed national figures released by the Australian Electoral Commission.

After four days of early voting, the AEC recorded about 510,000 people had pre-polled Australia wide.

660k votes cast in the first week of early voting (5 days). End of first week for 2016 was 315k (only 4 days as voting started on a Tuesday) #ausvotes

— AEC (@AusElectoralCom) 4 May 2019

“This compares to a total of approximately 315,000 votes at the same stage of the 2016 federal election,” and AEC spokesman said.

AEC figures show “a record 16,424,248 Australians are enrolled to vote in the 2019 federal election.”

“This follows almost 100,000 additions to the roll in the week preceding the close of rolls, which has pushed the national enrolment rate to an extraordinary 96.8%,” the spokesman said.

Originally published as ‘It will be a close one’: Early bird voters rush Cairns pre poll station