First day of early voting smashes 2022 record

A record 542,141 votes were cast in the first day of early voting on Tuesday, smashing the previous 2022 record of about 314,346 as the trend continues of more Australians heading to the ballot box before the official polling day.

Pre-polling opened on Tuesday and runs for two weeks until the official election day of May 3.

Tuesday’s result marked a 72 per cent increase in first-day voting on 2022.

In Western Australia, the first day result of 59,000 votes marked a notable 115 per cent increase on 2022.

The strong first day showing led to long queues at some polling centres, with the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) asking people to be patient.

“If you can come on [voting] day, please do that, if you can’t, plan your vote — there is a full two week period,” an AEC spokesperson said on social media.

But the commission said that it was pleasing despite a massive increase in voting traffic there had been very few reports overall of unreasonable wait times.

While early voting will remain a popular option, the 2022 result had been boosted by measures introduced in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including an extended pre-poll period.

Early voting for this campaign is also being interrupted by the Easter and Anzac Day long weekends.

Just over half of all voters cast an early vote in 2022, including postal votes, and the AEC expects similar numbers this year.

Political parties have been forced to adapt their campaign strategies as more Australians head to the polls before the official day.

It has posed a challenge for how politicians use the final days of a campaign — a late announcement may mean millions of voters have already decided who to support before hearing it.

Already, the Coalition’s major announcement on Wednesday morning of a roughly $21 billion lift in defence spending over four years has been made after more than 500,000 people cast their votes.