Postpone council election vote: Mayoral candidate

A CANDIDATE for the Toowoomba Regional Council mayoral race wants the State Government to postpone the local government elections.

Chris Meibusch posted to his social media page on Saturday, saying he would call on his fellow candidates to suspend future forums at a Millmerran event, as concerns over

COVID-19 grow.

“People should avoid public gatherings to support the effort to flatten out the rate of expected infections in our community,” Mr Meibusch posted on his Facebook page.

But the Electoral Commission of Queensland is remaining firm on the March 28 election date, with bans on non-essential gatherings of more than 500 people coming into effect today.

Queensland Electoral Commissioner Pat Vidgen said the election was an “essential public event required to ensure the continuity of democratic representation”.

“It is extremely unlikely that more than 500 people would ever be in a polling booth at any one time, and electors generally only spend a short period of time in a booth,” he said.

The ECQ will take extra steps on polling day, including monitoring busy booths, providing Queensland Health advice, offering telephone voting to all electors in institutions like aged care facilities and allowing people to bring their own pens and pencils.

Early voting begins at polling stations across the Toowoomba region today.

There is also still time to lodge a postal vote but people must apply by 7pm tonight.