Voters are flocking to pre-polling booths in record numbers. More than half a million people cast a ballot on the first day and at this rate the electoral commission expects half of all 18 million voters to have their say before election day.
00:00In Western Sydney, voters had one thing on their mind.
00:07Convenience. Today I got my day off because of that Easter and then I was wondering might as well.
00:12Less crowd and yeah, it's easier to get through the line and get it done.
00:17More than half a million people across the country cast their ballot on day one of pre-polling,
00:23smashing the last election record by 70%.
00:27South Wales had the highest turnout with over 166,000 votes cast.
00:33In Victoria, 143,000 voters turned up.
00:37While in the Sunshine State, more than 100,000 people cast their ballot.
00:42Western Australia had a 115% increase in early voting from last election.
00:48Other states and territories also recorded significant figures.
00:52What we are potentially seeing is an early spike with, you know, the public holiday for Easter Monday,
00:58potentially compressing two days of pre-polling into one.
01:01In parts of regional Australia, punters out and about took advantage of empty booths.
01:07Just walked here and I haven't really been thinking about it, so I'll just go in and I'll think about it and I'll make up my mind.
01:13I have a disability and sometimes voting on election day is just a bit too much.
01:19The increasing popularity of pre-polling has led to political parties releasing most of their key policies early in election campaigns.
01:29Are you worried about missing out on any key messages in the next 10 days before election day?
01:34No, I think I'm basing it on the policies I see up to this day, so I guess there is risk of that, but I think I'm pretty confident in my choice.
01:43The electoral commission is expecting half of the country's nearly 18 million voters to cast their ballot before election day, which is now only 10 days away.
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