Early voting opens in Voice referendum
Find out where to vote on October 14, 2023, or early if you won’t be able to make it on the day.
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Early voting has opened ahead of the Voice referendum on October 14.
By lunchtime on Tuesday, dozens of people had already submitted their ballots at an early voting centre in the former Mitre 10 building on Sixth Street, Murray Bridge.
Australian Electoral Commissioner Tom Rogers said voting in the referendum was compulsory – everyone who was enrolled had to do it.
You can vote early if you:
- will be outside your home electorate on referendum day
- live more than eight kilometres from a polling place
- are travelling
- will be working, at a hospital or in prison serving a sentence of less than three years on referendum day
- are seriously ill or due to give birth shortly, or caring someone in that condition
- fear for your safety if you attend a polling place
“If you can vote on October 14, then that’s what you should do,” Mr Rogers said.
“However, if your circumstances might prevent you from doing that, then you need to think about the early voting options available and vote according to your circumstances.”
“Remember, it is compulsory to vote for all enrolled Australians.”
Where to vote in the referendum in Murray Bridge and surrounds
Voting centres on October 14 will include:
- Bridge Evangelical Christian Church
- Jervois Hall
- Murray Bridge Showground
- Murray Bridge High School
- Murray Bridge North School
- Mypolonga Institute
- Tailem Bend Primary School
- Wellington Hall
- Woods Point Community Hall
The referendum ballot paper will ask about a proposed law: “to alter the Constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice”.
Voters will need to write either the word “yes” or “no” on their ballot papers.
The Voice proposal was developed by Indigenous people around Australia during the 2010s, and articulated in the 2017 Uluru Statement from the Heart.
Holding this month’s referendum was a promise of the incoming federal government at the 2022 election.
- More information about early voting eligibility and other voting options: www.aec.gov.au.
- More information about where to vote: www.aec.gov.au.
- Read more: Previous stories about the referendum
Locals support locals. Your support helps Murray Bridge News tell important local stories.
