More than 500 early voting centres will be in operation across Australia during a two-week early voting period that starts today, Monday 9 May.
Early voting locations near the seat of Holt include the Lynbrook Community Centre, Akoonah Park Centre, Dandenong Stadium and the Cranbourne Home shopping centre, in the old Officeworks building.
The Australian Electoral Commission is urging voters to plan their vote with Electoral Commissioner Tom Rogers outlining the range of Covid-19 safety measures in place.
“Australian elections are in-person events – once every three years the country comes together in a transparent and secure environment to have their say,” Mr Rogers said.
“If you can vote on Election Day then that’s what you should do. However, if your circumstances might prevent you from doing that then you need to think about the early voting options available, and vote according to your circumstances.”
“Australians have been living with Covid-19 for more than two years now. For most people you’re visiting the shops regularly, attending events or taking public transport – voting centres will have more protections in place than most areas of society.”
AEC hygiene officers will be regularly sanitising surfaces and pencils at all AEC early voting centres.
Social distancing will be in force with equipment spaced out, markers and other signage providing guidance and queue controlling staff offering support.
AEC staff will be wearing masks and other personal protective equipment as required.
Voters do not need to be vaccinated to attend a voting centre and campaign activities (including handing out how-to-vote cards) can occur, in-line with local health directions and electoral laws.
Socially distanced queueing, venue capacity limits and required sanitising arrangements will undoubtedly slow down the voting process, and Mr Rogers asked voters to show patience.
“Nobody likes to wait, and we work hard on minimising queues for Australian voters as much as possible,” Mr Rogers said.
“The fact is that when you run an in-person process to the scale of a federal election where people effectively choose when and where they attend, and then you add Covid-19 safety on top, you simply cannot prevent all queues.”
Alternatively, an application for a postal vote can be submitted by Wednesday 18 May.
It has been recommended that people who will be overseas during the federal election apply for a postal vote as early as possible.
Completed postal votes can be delivered in person or at Australian embassy’s and consulates overseas listed on the AEC website.
Telephone voting will be available for those who are blind or low vision.
Legislation was passed in early 2022 to also allow for Covid-19 affected voters to cast a telephone vote up until Wednesday 18 May.
Telephone voting for people with Covid-19 will be an emergency measure for the final three voting days only.
The Federal Election will be held on Saturday 21 May.
Voting is compulsory for Australian citizens aged 18 years of age or older.
For further details on opening hours and availability at the listed locations above, head to aec.gov.au/election/voting.htm?division=Holt&state=VIC&suburb=Cranbourne&selection=now&votenow=yes&interstate=no&where=Cranbourne,+VIC+3977&postcode=3977#pollList
