Pre-poll booths open for early bird voters in Queensland ahead of October 26 election

Early votes can now be cast at more than 200 early voting centres across ahead of October 26, to cater for people who like to vote ahead of polling day.

Early lines at the pre-polling station at the Caloundra cricket club. Picture: Tertius Pickard

The first votes of the Queensland state election have been cast after pre-poll booths opened across the state on Monday.

Early votes can now be cast at more than 200 early voting centres across ahead of October 26, to cater for the swathes of Queenslanders who are ready to make their choice halfway through the campaign.

Electoral commissioner Pat Vidgen said the Electoral Commission of Queensland had been busy preparing for the expected large turnout.

“We have expanded voting opportunities for this election,” he said. “Close to five million ballot papers have been printed and securely transferred to all our early voting centres to meet the demand of electors who choose to vote at early voting centres.

“We are aware many Queenslanders prefer to vote early, and our staff have been busy over the last few months making sure these services will be available for early voters.”

On the hustings on the Sunshine Coast, Opposition Leader David Crisafulli and deputy leader Jarrod Bleijie were joined by the LNP’s Caloundra candidate Kendall Morton as pre-poll voting opened in the Labor-held seat on Monday morning.

There was a line of a couple of dozen people waiting to cast their vote in Caloundra, a turnout Mr Crisafulli’s minders insisted was not a rent-a-crowd and merely people keen to make their voice heard early.

Labor MP Jason Hunt was also there handing how-to-vote cards to his constituents.

Mr Crisafulli is on track to form government when 3.7 Queenslanders cast their vote this month, with last month’s Newspoll showing the LNP is on track to secure a nine- or 10-seat majority in the 93-member parliament.

Additional reporting: NewsWire