More and more Illawarra voters are choosing to forgo the democracy sausage on election day, instead opting to vote early.
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Pre-poll voting, which opens on Monday, May 9, has been around for quite a while; traditionally it was used by people who were going to be working, out of the area or otherwise unable to get to a polling place on election day.
But in recent elections, an increasing number of Illawarra residents are opting to cast their votes weeks before election day.
In Cunningham, the number of pre-pollers in the last two elections jumped 84 per cent, from 16,855 in 2016 to 31,133 in 2019.
In Whitlam, the rise in the last two elections was just 5 per cent - but there were already a large number of pre-pollers in that electorate - more than 31,000 in 2019.
Gilmore pre-poll votes jumped 45 per cent in last two elections, from 33,882 in 2016 to 49,374 in 2019.
Across the three electorates, it means around one-third of voters have already numbered all their boxes well before election day.
The story is the same across the country, according to the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC), which said 31 per cent of the votes cast in the 2019 election were from pre-poll voters, up from 22 per cent in 2016.
"We expect to see an increase in postal voting and early voting at this federal election," An AEC spokesperson said.
"The AEC has not changed the eligibility criteria for early voting. We recognise that electors may consider voting early out of concern for their health, and a desire to minimise the risk of contracting COVID-19."
The AEC site lists 10 reasons for pre-poll eligibility, none of which are "because it's just easier". But the spokesperson said there is no punishment for those who pre-poll without meeting any of those 10 reasons.
"The AEC has no capacity to investigate why people choose to vote early," the spokesperson said.
"The decision is a self-determination made by voters who know they are unable to attend a polling place on election day, and conclude that they are eligible to vote early based on the criteria."
Gilmore Liberal candidate Andrew Constance said the rise in pre-poll voting changes the way election campaigns were run.
"Nowadays I think you've got to get your policies out well and truly in advance of pre-poll," Mr Constance said.
"I feel that a lot of people now are opting to pre-poll which means they do need to have all the available information in terms of the Gilmore plan that I've got in advance of that first day of voting."
In Whitlam, Labor's Stephen Jones has long had concerns about the rise in pre-poll voting. He wasn't opposed to those who did, but was concerned that there had been no discussion about it.
"We've just never had a discussion about what that means and how it changes the way elections are run," he said.
"It may be that that's what Australia wants. It may be that we say, instead of having one polling day we want to have 14 of them.
"But if that's what we want to do, we should have a debate about it instead of an unelected electoral commissioner making a decision without reference to the parliament."
University of Wollongong academic Greg Melleuish said the AEC may accept the rise in pre-polls as a byproduct of compulsory voting; if people have to vote then perhaps it's better to make it as easy as possible for them.
Professor Melleuish felt pre-poll voters were missing out, partially because election day "was a bit of a festival" with local groups setting up sausage sizzles and cake stalls.
There was also a greater concern; that there could be a change in events in the days and weeks after someone has cast their pre-poll vote.
"If people are voting two weeks before the election something could happen in the last two weeks of the election that could affect them," he said.
"So what sort of view are you getting off the population? You're not getting the view of all the people at a particular point in time. I don't know if that's significant for democracy."
PRE-POLLING LOCATIONS
Election day is on May 21, but around one-third of the electorate won't be worrying about that date.
They'll be more interested in May 9 - the date pre-poll voting opens.
Once upon a time it was limited to those who were going to be travelling on election day or otherwise unable to get to a polling both; electoral officials would even ask you for a reason you were voting early.
These days, that question doesn't seem to be asked, with most people choosing to vote early so as not to wreck a perfectly good Saturday by having to dodge the how-to-vote waving party members at their local school and then joining the queue to vote.
For the record, the AEC website lists 10 reasons that make someone eligible to cast a pre-poll vote.
These include being outside the electorate on polling day, working on the day, about to give birth or in prison on a sentence of less than three years.
The AEC has listed the following pre-poll locations for the Illawarra electorates, all of which open on Monday, May 9, the first day of pre-polling.
The AEC website states that additional centres may be added to this list, though there are never anywhere near as many locations as there are on election day.
CUNNINGHAM
- Corrimal Library
- Dapto Ribbonwood Centre
- Warrawong Plaza
- Wollongong Salvation Army, Burelli Street
GILMORE
- Batemans Bay Community Centre
- Huskisson Community Centre
- Joyce Wheatley Community Centre, Kiama
- Nowra Uniting Church
- Ulladulla Civic Centre
- Worrigee Shopping Village
WHITLAM
- Albion Park Centenary Hall
- Bowral Senior Citizens Hall
- Warilla Senior Citizens Centre
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