An overwhelming number of voters have not made up their mind before they reach the polling booth door, workers at pre-poll booths in Tweed Heads, Murwillumbah and Byron Bay reported yesterday.
As predicted by the Australian Electoral Commission, record numbers of voters are choosing to vote early rather than queue up on election day. Voters need a legitimate reason to vote at a pre-poll booth and many of them are travellers who will be on the road on election day.
Undecideds will decide the outcome
Yesterday at Tweed Heads, ALP candidate Justine Elliot and Greens candidate, Joe Ebono had the booth to themselves and were neatly dividing the undecideds between them. With this number of undecided voters, they will decide the outcome of the election.
Conservative voters where angry that there was no-one there to assist them, and some were taking advantage of The Greens open ticket to put The Greens number one and the National Party second.
Booth workers report that around two thirds of voters are voting for their traditional party and are not interested in collecting more than one How to Vote card. The Undecided voters, though, want guidance to help them make the decision.
Number from the bottom to the top
The Greens in Richmond are simply advising voters to put Joe Ebono number one and then order the other candidates as the voter sees fit. The independents and community action group Community Voice are recommending that the voter selects the candidate of their choice and then puts the major parties last.
In Richmond, the Liberal and Labor parties are at the top of the ticket so voters can achieve that simply by putting the number 1 beside the candidate of their choice and then numbering from the bottom to the top.
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Joe Ebono is available for comment on 0402 779 375