Federal election 2022: ACT pre-poll numbers to reach 40 per cent

Close to 80,000 ACT residents had pre-polled as of mid week and more than 13,000 postal votes had been returned.

Based on daily pre-poll averages and postal returns, 121,441 of 314,329 ACT voters will have had their say ahead of election day.

Residents rushed to vote in the north faster than in the south, with Belconnen and Gungahlin pre-poll locations accounting for 44 per cent of votes from Canberra's six pre-poll options, in the first half of week two.

Belconnen Community Centre has been the busiest pre-poll location every day this week, with more than 3000 people voting there each day.

The quietest pre-poll location in the ACT was on Moore Street in the city, with less than 900 each day on week one and 1600 daily during week two, on average.

Lakeview House in Greenway was the busiest location in the south, with an average of 2393 voters through the door each day.

Taylor Fleming and Blake Gattringer were among those who pre-polled at Tuggeranong this week, opting to vote early rather than disrupt their weekend plans.

Ms Fleming was still undecided as to which way to vote when accepting how-to-vote cards on Thursday.

The Tuggeranong resident said her political views were largely informed by friends and family.

Mr Gattringer said he had sport commitments on Saturday and was anticipating long lines on election day.

"We just thought we'd get it over with," he said.

Around Australia, more than four million people had cast a pre-poll vote by Thursday afternoon, with 2.68 million applying for postal before the deadline.

The Liberal National Party held seat of Hinkler had the highest turnout of pre-poll voters at midweek, with 36 per cent of those enrolled in the previously safe Queensland seat having cast their vote.

Labor held Gilmore, covering parts of Kiama, Shoalhaven and northern Eurobodalla, had the most pre-poll voters, with 117,306 when booths closed on Wednesday.

The ACT had the second highest pre-poll turnout of anywhere in Australia when the latest results were made public, tracking slightly behind the Northern Territory.

Jill Sheppard, from the Australian National University School of Politics, said the NT's pre-poll turnout was likely so high as mobile voting stations travelled to communities.

When it comes to the ACT, Dr Sheppard said the fact so many Canberrans are personally invested means people know pre-polling is available.

Canberrans are also just good at bureaucracy, she said.

Dr Sheppard said COVID taught Australians to vote postal and it remained to be seen how that could be walked back.

"What we're going to see this time is a whole new demographic postal voting," she said. "It's going to be a real issue for deciding winners on election night."

READ ALSO:

Dr Sheppard said when someone like Anthony Green, election analyst for the ABC, called seats, it was based on certain demographic assumptions which would no longer hold true.

"Postal voting traditionally has been the domain of the elderly or people with disability issues. When postal voters look a lot more like people who are voting on Election Day, we're not quite sure how that's going to wash out," she said.

"I don't think the parties or the media or commentators generally have really grappled with what this is going to mean for elections in future."

Dr Sheppard said not only will result be delayed but future campaigns would likely be long and uneventful.

"The whole campaign period is just about not stuffing up, it's not about dropping announcements or making big statements as to why you should be elected, because at any given time a third of your database has already voted."

We've made it a whole lot easier for you to have your say. Our new comment platform requires only one log-in to access articles and to join the discussion on The Canberra Times website. Find out how to register so you can enjoy civil, friendly and engaging discussions. See our moderation policy here.