Queensland election: Pre-poll to draw two-thirds of voters

A record two-thirds of Queenslanders are expected to cast their ballots ahead of the October 31 election.

A record two-thirds of Queenslanders are expected to cast their ballots ahead of the October 31 election after the state’s pre-polling booths opened on Monday.

By 4pm, more than 100,000 people had submitted their votes across 200 sites.

The turnout was significantly higher than the 29,000 who voted on the first day of pre-polling in the 2017 state election and the 70,000 for the local government election at the height of the coronavirus pandemic’s first wave in March.

The Electoral Commission of Queensland is expecting 1.5 million of the state’s 3.4 million registered voters to cast their votes in-person in the two-week lead-up to election day. A further 840,000 voters have requested postal vote forms.

Electoral commissioner Pat Vidgen said people were tending towards convenience voting, with more extended voting hours being offered to provide for social distancing in light of the pandemic.

“It’s not surprising that day one is a busy day because I think a lot of people have marked this in their diaries,” Mr Vidgen said.

“The trends are changing. Certainly polling day is still the biggest day and it will be the biggest day, but early voting will be more popular in terms of the numbers we expect.”

Ahead of the ACT election last Saturday, more than 60 per cent of people lodged their votes early.

The ECQ has previously warned the boom in postal votes could mean the winner of a closely fought election may not be known for 10 days afterwards as counts are finalised.

Strategists from the LNP and Labor said they had ensured major campaign announcements were made before time to capture the attention of early voters.

Mr Vidgen said some people who had requested postal ballots might ultimately choose to vote on the day to support their community through the traditional sausage sizzle at polling stations.