Geelong Advertiser federal election exit poll reveals 50 per cent voted Labor

A survey of 100 voters at Torquay on the first day of federal election pre-polling put Labor ahead but the Liberals are close behind. See the results.

FIFTY per cent of voters surveyed by the Geelong Advertiser on the first day of federal election pre-polling at Torquay said they voted Labor.

Of the 100 people the Addy spoke to for an exit poll, another 39 said they voted for the Liberals, six for the Greens, four for the Animal Justice Party and one for the United Australia Party.

Torquay voter Valerie Oswald, 76, who voted Liberal and preferenced the Greens and Labor said she didn’t want a hung parliament.

“I couldn’t force myself to vote for anything else. The alternatives were not to my liking,” Ms Oswald said.

“Nothing will get done in a hung parliament.

“It annoys me that either side continue to sling mud, but there’s no alternative.”

Pre polling in Torquay. Corangamite candidates Meg Watkins, Paul Barker, Stephaine Asher, Libby Coker and Daniel Abou-zeid.

Torquay swing-voter Peter, who voted for the Greens, said he was disappointed with the major parties.

“There’s miles and miles of difference between the two leaders; Albanese just seems to keep stumbling and ScoMo has done a good job during the pandemic,” Peter said.

“But I’ve been very very disappointed with Morrison’s handling of women’s issues and Australia’s security.

“Morrison wouldn’t agree to pay people minimum wage. I just find him a lightweight.

“We don’t think (Corangamite Labor MP) Libby Coker has done anything for us.”

The @geelongaddy asked 100 voters casting prepoll votes at Torquay where their first preferences went.
RESULTS:
Labor - 50 @LibbyCokerMP
Liberal - 39 @StephanieAsher1
Greens - 6
Animal Justice Party - 4
United Australia Party - 1 #NewsPrepoll#AusVotes2022pic.twitter.com/dHpvF4XmrJ

— Chad Van Estrop (@cvanestrop) May 9, 2022

Asked about his vote, Torquay resident Mick Formosa said: “Who really wants to vote for Scott Morrison?

“I don’t know any self-respecting woman who would vote Liberal. I think Libby Coker has been a good representative for us.”

Paul Barker Liberal Democrat Party.

Daniel Abou-zeid from the United Australia Party.

Meg Watkins, Animal Justice Party.

Deakin University’s senior politics lecturer Geoff Robinson said Liberal candidate Stephanie Asher would need about 9000 more first-preference votes than Labor to win the seat of Corangamite.

“She would have to have a really big first-preference lead to hold on,” Dr Robinson said.

Ms Asher, who is popular on the Bellarine Peninsula, won about 36 per cent of the first-preference vote at the 2020 Geelong council election.

From available how-to-vote cards at the pre-poll station, the UAP and One Nation are recommending voters preference the Liberals above Labor, but the Greens, the Animal Justice Party and Liberal Democrats want their voters to preference Labor over the Liberals.

Comparing the results of the Addy’s straw poll to the pre-poll results from the 2019 federal election, Mr Robinson said the Labor vote was higher, the Liberal vote was about the same, and the vote for the Greens and United Australia Party was lower.

At the 2019 election, more than 3600 early votes were cast in Corangamite.

Of those, 32 per cent went to Labor, 41 per cent to the Liberals, 14 per cent to the Greens, 3 per cent to the UAP and two per cent to the Animal Justice Party.

“We are in the last quarter, but all the action happens in the last minute,” Mr Robinson said. “Everything else is preparatory.”

On the first day of pre-polling at Torquay, the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) was expecting about 1000 people to cast their vote.

As of May 9, the AEC had received 17,630 applications for postal votes in Corangamite, and 15,497 in the Corio electorate.

Originally published as Geelong Advertiser federal election exit poll reveals 50 per cent voted Labor