Voice to Parliament voters say 'Yes' to prepoll as thousands cast ballots early in Wagga

More than 1000 people a day have already cast their Voice to Parliament referendum votes in Wagga. Data from the Australian Electoral Commission revealed 4549 people answered "Yes" or "No" to the referendum question and lodged their ballot papers during the first three days of early voting in the city this week. Prepolling began across the country on Monday but, due to the Labour Day long weekend public holiday, the doors at prepoll centres in NSW did not open until Tuesday. Wagga's prepoll centre, at 53 Berry Street, was the only location you could cast an early vote in the Riverina electorate this week, with additional centres to become operational from Saturday [you can find a list of some locations at the bottom of this story]. The latest AEC figures showed 1515 people filled out their ballot papers at Wagga's early voting centre on Tuesday. The number of voters dipped slightly to 1450 on Wednesday, before increasing to 1584 on Thursday. IN OTHER NEWS According to the AEC, 117,720 eligible voters are enrolled for the referendum in the Riverina electorate. A total of 7879 postal vote applications have been received by the AEC in the Riverina, with 1783 postal votes already returned. Another Wagga early voting centre, at the Glenfield Park Scout Hall, will open at 9am on Saturday and remain open each weekday next week in the lead up to referendum day on October 14. Other prepoll centres will also come online across the 48,988 square-kilometre Riverina electorate, including at the Junee Recreation and Aquatic Centre and the Temora Town Hall, from Saturday. Over in the Farrer electorate, where four early voting centres have been operational this week, a total of 5853 ballots have been lodged early. At the Albury prepoll centre, 4320 people have had their say in the first three days of early voting, with Thursday also having the biggest turnout of voters on the Border. Smaller numbers were recorded at the other Farrer prepoll sites, which are all located across the border in Victoria and have been open for four days - Echuca (1030), Cobram (262) and Mildura (241). Additional early voting centres in will open elsewhere in the Farrer electorate from Saturday morning, including at Griffith, Leeton, Narrandera and Deniliquin, as well as another location in Albury. There are 122,149 eligible voters in Farrer - which spans an area of 126,590 square kilometres and includes southern and western Riverina communities - at this election. A total of 10,734 of them have applied for a postal vote. Just under 3000 postal votes had been returned by the end of Thursday. The AEC has urged people who cannot make it to a polling place during the early voting period, or on referendum day itself, to apply for postal vote via its website. Postal vote applications close at 6pm on October 11. Australian Electoral Commissioner Tom Rogers has previously encouraged people to plan their vote for the first referendum the country has had since 1999. "If you can vote on October 14, then that's what you should do," Mr Rogers said. "However, if your circumstances might prevent you from doing that then you need to think about the early voting options available and vote according to your circumstances." The AEC has reminded people it is compulsory for all enrolled Australians to vote and said it was important voters knew how to lodge a formal ballot in a referendum. "When you go to vote, you will receive one ballot paper with one question - the question will ask if you approve the proposed alteration. On the referendum ballot paper, you need to indicate your vote by clearly writing either 'Yes' or 'No' in the box, in full and in English," the AEC said. The question is: "A Proposed Law: to alter the Constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice. Do you approve this proposed alteration?" RIVERINA ELECTORATE Wagga - 53 Berry Street Glenfield Park Scout Hall Junee Recreation and Aquatic Centre Temora Town Hall Dickson Hall, Cootamundra Young Town Hall Old Wyalong Council Chambers Hall FARRER ELECTORATE Griffith Aboriginal Community Centre Leeton Council Chambers Narrandera Emergency Operations Centre Deniliquin Town Hall The above is not a comprehensive list of prepolling locations. You can fund a full list of early voting centre locations, opening days and hours on the AEC website. Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: