Voters urged to get ballot papers returned to AEC before by-election

The AEC has urged postal voters to return their ballots as soon as possible.

Early voting for the Groom by-election is almost exactly what it was at the 2019 Federal Election, despite an early voting trend established in the recent local government and state elections towards early voting because of COVID-19.

According to an Australian Electoral Commission spokesman, by COB Monday, 15,581 people had voted, compared to 15,370 at the same stage of the 2019 federal election.

“The number of postal vote applications is 22,248,” the spokesman said.

“This compares to a total of 15,244 for Groom at the 2019 federal election.”

The spokesman said overall the 93.05 per cent turnout recorded in 2019 was expected to be lower this year because of voter fatigue and the fact by-elections generally record lower turnouts.

“Of the people who have applied for a postal vote so far we have only received around 4,000 completed votes back in the post, which is a significantly lower rate of return when compared to the same stage of other elections,” the spokesman said. “So people who’ve received their postal voting ballot papers are being strongly encouraged to complete their postal vote and get it in the mail back to us.”