ELECTION day has been bypassed like never before with a record number of south-west Victorians opting to vote ahead of polling day.
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More than 19,000 voters in the Warrnambool and Portland regions voted early with thousands in the Hamilton, Camperdown, Terang, Mortlake and Colac districts following suit.
The Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC) revealed yesterday more than 43 per cent of all eligible South West Coast voters had cast their ballots prior to today’s traditional polling day.
VEC figures released late afternoon show 1531 postal votes had been collected while 17,960 early voters had their name signed off in pre-polling booths. Early voters had to queue at times yesterday outside the Fairy Street office in Warrnambool. Strong turn-outs were also witnessed in Portland.
Early voting was less pronounced in Polwarth, which covers Camperdown and Terang, with nearly 23 per cent of registered voters heading to pre-poll stations.
About 32 per cent of Lowan residents voted pre-poll as of yesterday afternoon. The electorate, which covers Hamilton and Coleraine, had a lower rate of postal voters.