Telephone voting eligibility will be extended for voters who have tested positive to COVID-19 and missed the chance to pre-poll and postal vote.
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The Australian Electoral Commission's additional phone voting service has been made available to people who have tested positive to the virus after 6pm on Friday, May 16 and will close at 6pm on Saturday, May 21.
The change came after AEC electoral commission Tom Rogers initially said they could not change the eligibility criteria despite "a lot of discussion about the telephone voting service provision".
"The telephone voting service was legislated by Parliament as an emergency measure for individuals who had no other voting option once postal vote applications closed at 6pm on Wednesday," he said.
"We have analysed the service's take-up so far, our staffing levels and forecasts for use, and are in urgent discussions with Government about the concerns expressed by members of the public.
"This morning I have signed a brief recommending for the eligibility for the service be expanded."
Phone voting started on Wednesday night, although only those who tested positive for COVID-19 after 6pm on Tuesday, May 17 were eligible to participate.
Outrage soon arose including from high-profile independent candidate Monique Ryan in the Melbourne seat of Kooyong who flagged a large proportion of voters who caught the virus between the previous Saturday and Tuesday would not be able to vote.
In a Twitter thread on Thursday, Ms Ryan said the voting exclusion would have affected over 200,000 people who tested positive between May 14 and May 17.
"That's enough to determine the result in many close races. There were 8 electorates closer than that in 2019," she said.
"It's safe to assume that a great many people who were in their sick beds with COVID, didn't know about the postal vote deadline."
For those who can vote in person on Saturday, May 21, Wannon voting centres include:
Warrnambool: Brauer College, St Joseph's Primary School, Warrnambool Primary School, Temperance Hall, Our Lady Help of Christians Primary School
Allansford: Allansford Primary School
Hamilton: Patterson Park Hall, Hamilton Senior Citizens Rooms
Portland: Portland North Primary School, Portland Drill Hall, Bundarra Primary School
Full list of voting centres is available at here.