Flinders voters flock to early polling booth in Mornington
An exclusive survey has taken the pulse of voters on the Mornington Peninsula and one candidate stood out.
South East
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“Blue bloods” were out in force in Mornington on Monday with more than half of those voting early picking Liberal candidate Zoe McKenzie to replace outgoing Minister Greg Hunt in Flinders.
The Leader interviewed 100 people as they left the booth on Monday as part of a national News Corp effort to canvas thousands of voters across 80 pre-poll booths.
The Flinders exit poll revealed 58 people voted for Ms McKenzie, well ahead of Labor candidate Surbhi Snowball, who received 29 votes.
Independent candidate Sarah Russell, who is endorsed by the Voices of Mornington Peninsula, received nine votes and four people voted for so-called teal independent Despi O’Connor.
The chance to vote early appealed to many older residents who said they liked to “get it out of the way”.
Several first time voters were also keen to make their democratic debut.
Max Stockton, 18, said he had spent several days researching all ten candidates before making up his mind.
“It’s actually pretty stressful,” Mr Stockton said.
“You have to look at what’s best for the country and your own local area before picking who you’ll vote for.”
The Mount Martha university student didn’t want to reveal which candidate he had chosen.
Neither did his mum Jo Stockton.
“We do talk about politics at home but we make it really clear that everyone makes up their own mind based on what they think is best,” she said.
A woman who described herself as a lifetime Liberal voter was also there early to support Zoe McKenzie.
“I’m a blue blood. I followed the how to vote card Greg Hunt gave me on the way in,” she said.
Mr Hunt was a popular volunteer, with many voters stopping to chat and some expressing disappointment he was not standing.
““I’m being upgraded,” he joked.
“It’s time for me to focus on being a dad.”
Other voters said the decision by both independents – Despi O’Connor and Sarah Russell – to shy away from preferential voting was “confusing”
“I think I voted for Sarah,” one woman told The Leader.
“I put one in the box next to her name, but then I didn’t know what to do.
“I wanted my vote to count, to do all I could to help her get in, but without a proper how to vote card it was tricky.”
Meanwhile, Ms O’Connor also raised eyebrows by continuing to urge people to vote for her after revealed she may not be eligible to represent Flinders in Canberra.
The former Mornington Peninsula mayor was on leave without pay but still employed as a public school teacher when she nominated to run for the seat.
She has since resigned from her teaching role.
The Australian Electoral Commission has confirmed that Ms O’Connor was still able to stand for election and her name would remain on the ballot paper.
However, her eligibility could be challenged after the election and it would be up to the Court of Disputed Returns to decide her status.
Some voters were confused to see Ms O’Connor and her supporters at the polling booth on Monday with several asking why she was still seeking votes.
Ms O’Connor said her campaign had always been about “everyday people” representing their community.
“That’s why I ran in the first place,” she said.
“People like me should be able to run without facing hurdles like this.”
The question of her eligibility could not be answered until after the election, she said.
“I’m still on the ballot, you can still vote for me and we can wait until after this election to see how this pans out.”