A number of Bathurst residents got in early on Monday morning to cast their vote at 91 Rankin Street, which will serve as one of the city's two pre-polling centres for next weekend's federal election.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The pre-polling centre opened at 8am, and by 10am, it was already bustling with residents looking to beat the May 21 crowds.
Kiri Armstrong, the Australian Electoral Commission [AEC] officer in charge, said the pre-polling centre caters primarily for residents who'll be unable to vote on election day.
"The aim is to cater for people who are unable to vote on the day, so we encourage residents to carefully consider whether pre-poll voting is the best method for them," Ms Armstrong said.
Ms Armstrong said the pre-polling centre is also catering for voters outside the Calare electorate, otherwise known as absentee voters.
"Residents in town who are outside Calare can do absentee voting here, whether they're from Tasmania, the Northern Territory or Western Australia," she said.
"However, this centre will be open for absentee voting only on election day."
91 Rankin Street is situated across the road from Bernardi's IGA.
In terms of accessibility, local disability advocate Bob Triming said the centre is "accessible with easy transference over the threshold."
However, Mr Triming has called into question the lack of accessible parking.
"I don't know why a temporary position could not have been organized," he said.
"After speaking to Bathurst Regional Council's engineering department, they said it is the responsibility of the AEC to contact council to obtain temporary accessible parking.
"Yet again, it is a case of the AEC not fully investigating proper options for those with a disability in line with the Disability Discrimination Act [DDA]."
The centre is open until 8pm today, and will be open 8am to 8pm Tuesday to Friday, 9am to 4pm Saturday, 8am to 8pm May 16 to 19, 8am to 6pm May 20 and 8am to 6pm [absentee votes only] on May 21 [election day].
A second pre-poll centre will open at Westpoint Shopping Centre this Saturday.
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content:
- Bookmark www.westernadvocate.com.au
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram
- Follow us on Google News
Sam Bolt
"I'm not in the business of telling people what to do. I'm much more in the business of describing things, situations and stuff like that and leaving them out there, and you can make up your minds about them." -Nick Cave
"I'm not in the business of telling people what to do. I'm much more in the business of describing things, situations and stuff like that and leaving them out there, and you can make up your minds about them." -Nick Cave
