More than 1.6 million Victorians pre-vote in state election

Victorians have turned out in their droves to help decide the next government, days before the election even takes place.

More than a million Victorians, nearly a quarter of the state’s population, have cast their vote before Saturday’s election.

The startling data comes after more than 200,000 people went to the ballot on Wednesday alone.

There are 4.3 million registered voters in Victoria, with more than 1.6 million votes already cast.

The state’s total population exceeds 6.6 million.

However, voters wanting to cast their ballot via postal vote must have applied to receive a ballot pack in the post by November 23.

It’s expected that as many as 50 per cent of voters will vote early.

Covid-positive voters who missed the postal vote application deadline will still be able to vote via a CovidSafe drive-through service.

Australian Electoral Commission staff sort through the votes for the 2022 federal election.

The voting centre is open at a former Bunnings site at 149 Barries Rd, Melton West between 9am and 5pm on Thursday and Friday and 8am to 6pm on Saturday.

“We know that people want to vote but may not feel comfortable entering a voting centre. We need to provide at least one option, even if it’s not a very convenient one,’ acting electoral commissioner Dana Fleming said.

Prior to the pandemic emergency declaration’s withdrawal, people who were Covid-positive were eligible to vote by phone.

However, this eligibility for voting by phone became void with the removal of the emergency declaration and isolation requirements.

“Voters must stay in their car and will need to show a positive RAT or a text from the Department of Health to confirm a positive PCR test result to be eligible to use the service, as there is a very real risk that we will be inundated by voters who just like the idea of drive-through voting,” Ms Fleming said.