Gympie council looks at banning election ‘gauntlet’ at voting booths

A regional Qld council is asking whether one of the most recognisable and sometimes annoying conventions of voting day should be given the axe. VOTE IN OUR POLL:

Gympie’s regional councillors are debating whether to lodge a motion asking for the bulk of the “gauntlet” to be outlawed at the upcoming 2025 Local Government Association of Queensland annual conference.

Walking through a bolevard of election hopefuls handing out “how-to-vote” cards while campaigning for every last vote has become a fixture at Australian election booths.

Now one regional Queensland council is asking whether the “gauntlet” should be canned for good.

Gympie regional councillors are debating whether to lodge a motion asking for the bulk of the “gauntlet” to be outlawed at the upcoming 2025 Local Government Association of Queensland annual conference.

The motion asks to “restrict any person from canvassing for votes using loudspeaker, amplifier, physical material or otherwise at voting centres or polling places” for council elections.

This would include banning handing out “how-to-vote” cards.

It argues this would create a “more pleasant voting experience” at polling booths and prevent any chance for them to be or feel pressured to vote for whoever had the strongest presence at a booth.

Gympie Mayor Glen Hartwig said his council was just discussing the idea at the moment but that in his view a ban would be welcome.

Gympie regional councillors are debating whether to lodge a motion asking for the bulk of the “gauntlet” to be outlawed at the upcoming 2025 Local Government Association of Queensland annual conference.

“I’d like to see (the ‘gauntlet’) completely removed,” Mr Hartwig said.

“I don’t think people feel comfortable.”

He said concerns raised by residents with him included times when candidates had made misleading statements to voters waiting to cast their ballot...”

His preference was for the same rules be brought in those that covered the 2020 council elections at the beginning of the Covid pandemic.

These regulations banned candidates and their supporters from handing out how-to-vote cards at booths.

The motion asks to “restrict any person from canvassing for votes using loudspeaker, amplifier, physical material or otherwise at voting centres or polling places” for council elections.

Candidates were still allowed to provide election officials promotional material for display at the booth for voters to pick up if they wished.

Mr Hartwig said a ban on the “gauntlet” would also open the door for candidates to spend their time in and speaking with their electorates, instead of being forced to spend two weeks essentially camped out at pre-polling booths from 8am to 6pm.

“It will actually allow them to go out and interact with voters in a more appropriate fashion,” Mr Hartwig said.

“The ‘gauntlet’ is not a good outlet for democracy at all.”

Councillors will discuss the proposed motion at Wednesday’s workshop at the Gympie Town Hall.

If the motion is backed by the council, it would then be submitted to the LGAQ’s motion committee for consideration.

The motion would then be put to vote at the October 2025 conference by all 77 of Queensland’s councils and, if approved, it would become an official position for the LGAQ to advocate for.