Voice to Parliament referendum: Prepoll popular as Riverina, Farrer voters get in early to have their say

The latest data from the Australian Electoral Commission reveals more than 12,000 people had their say across the Riverina electoral district during the first five days of early voting last week, with the majority doing so in Wagga.

The city's prepoll centre, on Berry Street, was the only early voting option in the Riverina until more booths became operational on Saturday morning [you can find a list of some locations at the bottom of this story].

The AEC data shows a total of 7450 people voted at the Berry Street booth between over the five days from Tuesday to Saturday. The centre was closed on Sunday but will reopen at 8.30am on Monday.

Elsewhere, the city's second prepolling centre opened at the Glenfield Park Scout Hall on Saturday, with 743 people taking advantage of being able to vote in the southern suburbs.

Across the Riverina electorate, which extends into the Central West geographical area, early voting centres also opened at Cootamundra, Cowra, Forbes, Junee, Parkes, Temora, Wyalong and Young on Saturday.

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The centre will the largest opening-day turnout was Young with 917 early ballots cast, followed by Cootamundra with 664.

A total of 12,451 early votes have been lodged across the Riverina electorate so far, making up 10.6 per cent of the seat's 117,720 eligible voters enrolled for this referendum.

Early voting also became an option at additional locations within the Farrer electorate on Saturday, with 739 voters using the Griffith prepoll centre, 652 at Deniliquin and 486 in Leeton.

A total of 13,029 ballots have been cast early across Farrer, representing 10.7 per cent of that electorate's 122,149 eligible voters.

The Riverina and Farrer early voters were among the 2,212,581 people who have prepolled at the 2023 referendum.

The AEC said the figure compares to the 2 million early voters at the same stage of the 2022 federal election.

Australian Electoral Commissioner Tom Rogers said early voting centres would remain open until Friday for people who cannot make it to a polling place on October 14.

"If you're busy on Saturday or aren't certain of your circumstances then you need to plan where and when you'll be able to cast your vote," Mr Rogers said.

"Voting in a referendum is compulsory."

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.

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