Queensland’s Electoral Commissioner, Pat Vidgen (pictured) has declared that partnerships are crucial to the delivery of the 2020 State election, with printers Fuji Xerox Document Management Solutions and Printcraft, as well as Australia Post and TOLL, all involved.
Mr Vidgen said that delivering an election was a vast and complex logistical exercise and the role of partners could not be over-estimated.
“We are now in the process of printing seven million ballot papers, including a record number of postal ballots which are being delivered to postal voters via Australia Post,” Mr Vidgen said.
“It’s essential to ensure there are enough ballot papers for all 200 early voting and 1,300 election day polling booths for the total voting period, especially now that COVID-19 has had an impact on delivery times.”
He said Fuji Xerox DMS was responsible for producing more than 600,000 postal ballots and Printcraft was producing around 200,000 postal ballots. The last postal ballots printed are to be lodged with Australia Post today (21 October).
Mr Vidgen said postal votes were now progressively being securely transferred to Australia Post to be sent to electors across Queensland.
“Postal vote applications have closed and more than 787,000 Queenslanders have applied,” he said.
“This is a record number of postal vote applications for a Queensland election, and those voters can be assured that our printers are working around the clock to print all the required ballots so they can be lodged with Australia Post for delivery around the State.”
He said electors who opted to lodge a postal vote were urged to vote, sign, witness and mail their votes as soon as they received them so they could reach the ECQ before the deadline of 10 November.
“Even if electors have applied for a postal vote, they can still choose to vote in person during early voting or on Election Day,” Mr Vidgen said.
“They will be marked off the electoral roll, so will only be able to vote once.”
