Postal vote applications for the 2020 State General Election next month have opened and will close on 16 October.
Electoral Commissioner, Pat Vidgen said the option to apply for a postal vote weeks before the start of the election period would help electors who might not want to vote in person due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The Electoral Commission of Queensland (ECQ) is working to ensure Queensland electors have every opportunity to vote for their representative in the next Parliament,” Mr Vidgen said.
“Usually postal vote applications open with the issue of the writ, which begins the election period. However, with COVID-19 still a factor, we anticipate strong interest in postal voting just as we saw in March’s Local Government elections where around 570,000 electors applied.”
He said while electors could apply for a postal vote on the ECQ website or by phoning the ECQ’s call centre, ballot papers could not be mailed until after candidate nominations closed in mid-October.
“We remind electors who applied for a postal vote in March and want a postal vote in October, that they need to apply again,” Mr Vidgen said.
“The ECQ is also establishing special postal voting arrangements for residents of certain aged care facilities which would usually receive a mobile polling service as a ‘declared institution’.”
He said due to COVID-19 restrictions and to protect vulnerable residents, the ECQ was unable to provide this service.
“However, the ECQ will streamline the postal vote process for these facilities to make sure it is easy for residents to vote by post if that is their preference,” the Electoral Commissioner said.
“We are planning for an election period with two weeks of extended early voting days and hours, including voting on Saturday 24 October as well as Election Day voting between 8am and 6pm on Saturday 31 October.”
