In a bid to reduce the number of people at polling booths, candidates and their campaigners have been directed by the Electoral Commission of Queensland to not canvass outside polling places altogether.
Local Government Minister Stirling Hinchliffe said the ECQ’s second Directive would minimise static interaction and be in the best health interests of attendees at early polling and election day booths.
To aid voters, the second Directive allowed for how-to-vote information provided by candidates to be displayed inside polling places by ECQ officials.
Mr Hinchliffe said it followed the first Directive on Thursday, which banned the handing out of how-to-vote cards and other electoral material.
“As of 5pm yesterday (Friday), about half a million Queenslanders had cast their vote at a ballot box and more than 540,000 had applied for a postal vote,” he said.
Mr Hinchliffe said voters should take advantage of extended early voting hours at more than 120 booths across the State being open from 9am today, Saturday 21 March.
“This is the first time in history Queenslanders will be able to vote two Saturdays in a row, including the official election day next Saturday 28 March,” he said.
ECQ Commissioner Pat Vidgen said the ban would reassure voters that heading to the polling booth would be as quick a process as possible.
“Early voting, telephone voting and the demand for postal votes tells us that Queenslanders want this process to go ahead,” he said.
Mr Hinchliffe said the latest advice from Queensland’s Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young was that it was still safe to hold council elections up to and on 28 March.
“The risk of contracting COVID-19 at a polling location is low,” Dr Young has advised the ECQ.
“People will be frequently entering and exiting the environment, spending little time in static close contact, which reduces the risk of spread of COVID 19.
“I appreciate the measures being proposed by Electoral Commission Queensland as they should address the risk of community transmission of COVID-19, while allowing important electoral processes to continue.”
