Pre-polling turnout to set records
TOOWOOMBA is on track for a record-low election day turnout on May 21, as local voters followed nationwide trends by registering for postal votes and casting their ballot early.
Nearly 2000 people have already cast their vote in Groom for the upcoming federal election, with Toowoomba’s pre-polling booths packed with residents on Monday.
The Australian Electoral Commission said more than 22,000 postal applications had been received by residents living within the Groom electorate.
TOOWOOMBA is on track for a record-low election day turnout on May 21, as local voters followed nationwide trends by registering for postal votes and casting their ballot early.
Nearly 2000 people have already cast their vote in Groom for the upcoming federal election, with Toowoomba’s pre-polling booths packed with residents on Monday.
The Australian Electoral Commission said more than 22,000 postal applications have been received by the Australian Electoral Commission for Groom, a nearly 70 per cent increase on the total for the 2019 election (13,089).
On Monday 1944 residents lodged their votes across Toowoomba, including more than 650 at the CBD booth and 530 at the Harristown station off Anzac Avenue.
The Chronicle’s exit poll, which surveyed nearly 12 per cent of voters at those two booths, found 53 out of the 100 quizzed had placed their first preference with incumbent MP Garth Hamilton.
Labor’s Gen Allpass earned support from 19 respondents, while independent Suzie Holt finished third with 12 votes.
One Nation’s Grant Abraham was the only other candidate to hit double digits.
Observations showed firstday early voters were generally older people who were more clear on their decision.
While the exit polling hardly predicts the outcome, it gives a strong indication of the LNP’s level of support among older residents.
Australians lined up at the pre-poll in record numbers, with the AEC estimating more than 300,000 voters had turned out to cast ballots.
The pre-poll period in 2022 is a week shorter than in 2019, where 120,000 voters turned out on the first day of ballots being open to the public.
Pre-poll ballots may yet reach five million by the end of the campaign, surpassing the previous record of 4.3 million.
News reporters have surveyed nearly 3000 early voters across 31 electorates, with the initial results positive for the Coalition.
In Queensland, booths in Blair, Bowman, Capricornia, Dawson, Fisher, Flynn, Griffith, Groom, Herbert, Hinkler, Kennedy, Leichhardt, Lilley, McPherson, Moncrieff, Petrie and Wide Bay also had a majority of first-preference votes for the Coalition (47 per cent versus 31 per cent for Labor).
But despite the promising figures for Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s crew, not all electorates have been surveyed and the winner is not determined by a first-pastthe-post race, as preferences come into play.