There is no way to stop the juggernaut that is pre-poll voting, according to a NSW Parliamentary committee.
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More and more people are voting early to beat the queues - and forgo the democracy sausage - on election day.
In the Illawarra there were massive spikes in pre-polls numbers between the 2015 and 2019 state elections.
Keira saw a 103 per cent increase, from 5354 to 10,870.
The smallest increase among Illawarra electorates was at Shellharbour, where they jumped by 56 per cent.
In 2019, across the Illawarra around one in four voters had already cast their vote before election day.
Even though there are rules surrounding eligibility for a pre-poll vote - such as being out of the state - a parliamentary committee on electoral matters found there wasn't much that could be done to turn back this tide.
"The committee acknowledges that the increase in early voting suggests that many people are disregarding eligibility requirements to vote early in NSW, and are voting at early voting centres for reasons of convenience," the report found.
"Further, the committee heard that it would be hard for the NSW Electoral Commission to more strictly enforce the eligibility requirements. Even so, the NSW Electoral Commission should continue to make it clear to voters that early voting is subject to eligibility requirements."
Despite increases in early voting, the committee opposed the suggestion that the weeks of pre-poll and election day be replaced with a voting period.
The committee felt this change "would represent a fundamental shift in the democratic process, and that it would encourage voters to vote prior to parties and candidates having released all their policies".
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