VEC expanding pre-polls, overhauling local operations

Organisers of the upcoming Victorian election are looking to cater for a surge in early voters and implement regional hubs to streamline the state’s biggest ever election in November. Following a 2022 election where over half of Ovens Valley voters cast their ballots early, election officials are bracing for even higher pre-poll turnout across the region before the 28 November election day. Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC) commissioner Sven Bluemmel said he was anticipating 60 per cent of voters across the state would be heading to the polls early. “We’re tilting the balance much more towards early voting centres because that’s what people seem to be responding to,” he said. “In Victoria you don’t need a reason to have to vote early.” To accommodate the expected surge in early voting, the VEC will be operating 30 per cent more early voting centres in Victoria with more centres in every district. Early voting centres will be open from 18 November until 27 November and in a change to previous elections, will also open on election day. Mr Bluemmel said the VEC is expecting more than 50,000 enrolled voters in the Ovens Valley this year. There will be joint early-voting centres for bordering districts, where voters can vote as ordinary voters of a neighbouring district, rather than submitting an out-of-district vote which will speed up the counting process. The VEC is introducing 32 regional hubs which will serve as back-end operation centres for as many as four electorates in any given region. The hubs will ship out supplies to various polling booths, serve as central electoral offices and be where local pre-poll votes will be counted on election night to speed up results. “We're expecting so much in the early vote that having a lot more space to do that count on election night is going to improve things,” Mr Bluemmel said. The Ovens Valley and Benambra electorate regional hub will be in Wodonga while the Euroa electorate hub will be in Bendigo. Mr Bluemmel said across the Benambra and Ovens Valley electorates the VEC is hoping to recruit more than 2000 workers to deliver the election. “It pays pretty well, you start at about $37 an hour and it goes up from there,” he said. “We've got all sorts of roles; it's not just the people that voters interact with, it's also back-of-house, warehouse. “Not all roles need any previous experience, as we provide all the training.” In a change introduced as law in recent weeks, voters will now be required to vote one to five above the line after an amendment bill passed to abolish group voting tickets. Voters will still have the option to vote below the line and list their preferences one to five, but only 9.4pc of voters used that option in the 2022 election. Physical rolls will be replaced by laptops in 70 per cent of voting centres and the VEC would be implementing changes to political donation and disclosure laws. “People want results as quickly as possible, of course so do we, but we will always prioritise accuracy over speed,” Mr Bluemmel said. The VEC is expecting to see 4.6 million people head to the polls across the state, which would make for Victoria's biggest ever election. If you are interested in working with the VEC for the election, you can explore roles via the VEC website: https://www.vec.vic.gov.au/careers/work-at-elections

VEC expanding pre-polls, overhauling local operations

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