Thousands turn out to vote on Election Day

THE election day polls have been open for just under four hours and thousands have turned out to vote

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VOTERS are still trickling through polling places as the sun sets on the 2020 NT Election, with booths due to shut at 6pm.

Sophie Delarue cast her ballot at the Mitchell St booth before heading home to watch the telecast and said the biggest issue for her was safety.

“I think the big issues were for us as a family, we like to feel safe when we go to the city, so anybody who’s looking after safety in the city and keeping it safe for the locals,” she said.

“I’ve been checking Facebook to see if anything’s up yet but nothing yet so I’ll be watching tonight.”

At Parap Primary School, the lines snaked for quite a distance as people waited patiently to exercise their democratic right.

Shaun, who asked not to give his surname, said the long lines weren’t too bad.

Long lines at Fannie Bay but voters say they're moving pretty quickly making for a relatively painless election day, despite a lack of democracy sausages. pic.twitter.com/kbcsZ4yqWy

— Jason Walls (@jas_walls) August 22, 2020

“It looks long but it moved pretty quickly because everyone’s so spread out I guess so I was probably only in the line for about 20 minutes, it’s not too bad,” he said.

He voted for the Greens because the NT “hasn’t moved as quickly as a lot of the other parts of the country in addressing climate change”.

“We’re a high energy user and so reliant on fossil fuels and if we don’t start moving away from it now it’s going to come back to bite us in the arse later.”

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Both high profile candidates in the Fannie Bay seat — current Labor chief minister Michael Gunner and CLP would-be treasurer Tracey Hayes — spent time at the polling station this morning canvassing for votes.

It comes as tens of thousands of people chose to vote before election day.

At the Darwin CBD voting booths — set up in the lobby of the old cinema — lines were only about four people long.

People were being asked to socially distance, using one-time-use pencils to cast their vote.

Dilli Binadi, who was voting at Nightcliff Middle School, didn’t want to say which party snared his vote but said the issues facing the electorate this year were clear cut.

Dilli Binadi and Pratisha Deaan voting with children in tow Diya, 8 and Aavya, 3.

“Definitely the economy, jobs and the coronavirus, how to handle it in a proper way so people are protected,” he said.

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One of the other ‘big’ issues facing Territorians this election day is a lack of democracy sausages, banned due to COVID-19 concerns.

Journalists from media outlets across the Top End have taken to Twitter to suggest other “democracy foods”.

When in Darwin, have a democracy laksa instead. #ntvotes #NTelection pic.twitter.com/mNVji9Nd0P

— Robert Baird (@rj_baird) August 22, 2020

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