Queensland election 2024: Pre-polls inundated as half the state makes an early call

More than half of Queenslanders are expected to cast their vote ahead of the state election next weekend.

Cairns MP Michael Healy with Queensland Premier Steven Miles at a pre-poll booth at Cairns Showground. Picture: Adam Head

More than half of Queenslanders are expected to cast their vote ahead of the state election next weekend.

Momentum has been building across the state in the first four days of pre-poll booths opening, with 604,000 of the 3.7 million registered voters already fulfilling their civic duty. A further 685,000 have requested postal ballots, while more than 10,000 in the most remote parts of the state and those unable to make it to a polling station have already had their vote counted.

The Electoral Commission of Queensland is expecting just 45 per cent of voters to turn out on October 26, with 45 per cent likely to vote in the two weeks prior. The remainder are anticipated to vote via other remote methods.

“Early voting numbers for the 2024 election have been higher than in the 2020 state general election,” a ECQ spokesman said. “In 2020, around 490,000 Queenslanders voted during the first four days of the early voting period, while over 600,000 Queenslanders have voted over the same time period for the 2024 state election.

“The ECQ has processed approximately 685,000 postal votes … this compares to around 900,000 postal votes issued for the 2020 state election during the Covid-19 pandemic.”

The biggest turnout so far has been in the inner-city Brisbane electorate McConnel, where Labor frontbencher Grace Grace faces defeat from Greens candidate Holstein Wong. Almost 19,500 voters have come out to make their choice, however, that includes workers and visitors placing votes at Brisbane City Hall. An extra 7500 have also applied for a postal vote.

More than 13,000 votes were collected in the Labor-held seats of Hervey Bay (2 per cent) and Caloundra (2.5 per cent) during the first four days of pre-poll.

A further 10,000 votes have also been recorded in the state’s most marginal electorate of Bundaberg – captured by Labor on a margin of 0.01 per cent in 2020 – and the party’s other regional electorates of Mackay (6.7 per cent) and Cairns (5.6 per cent). The Liberal National Party seat of Broadwater (16.6 per cent) also recorded 11,484 early votes.

In remote Cape York communities, more than 5000 people have cast their vote through mobile polling, which will continue until next Saturday. A further 8800 have registered for telephone polling due to illness, impairment or disability.

More than 200 pre-poll booths will operate across the state’s 93 electorates.