What the AEC wants you to know ahead of the federal polls tomorrow (May 3)

AEC staff will be on hand to help and deserve your respect. Photo: AEC

THE Australian Electoral Commission has issued a reminder to voters with the federal election due tomorrow (Saturday, May 3).

Their reminders are (with links to their website):

It’s compulsory: Voting is compulsory for the 18.1 million people on the electoral roll. Eligible voters who do not vote may have to pay a fine.
Early voting today (May 2): If you can’t make it to one of 7000+ polling places tomorrow, early voting centres will remain open until 6pm local time today.
Election day hours: Polling places will be open from 8am to 6pm local time on May 3. If someone is in a queue at 6pm local time, they WILL be able to vote.
Locations and accessibility information: Click on the following: Find your nearest early voting centre or polling place.Simply enter the location where you will be on election day then follow the prompts to find your nearest voting centre. Click into the venue’s details to find out more information.
Queues: The AEC has done work to minimise queues wherever possible but says patience is needed if there is a queue. The last day of early voting (May 2) is always very busy despite the AEC having extra staff with some queues expected.
Respectful campaigning: Campaign workers are an important part of the federal election process. The AEC has been calling for respectful campaigningto occur since the start of the election.
Casting a formal vote: Voting instructions are given to voters as they receive their ballot paper, printed on each ballot paper, on posters within polling places. For more information, you can click on the following: Casting a formal vote or How preferential voting works.
Respect election workers: Please be kind to AEC staff. There are around 100,000 temporary staff across the country. They are politically neutral and deserve respect.
Postal voters: It is too late to apply for a postal vote. Anyone who received a postal vote must complete it and return it to the AEC as soon as possible and before 6pm local time on Saturday. The law allows up to 13 days after election day for postal votes to be received by the AEC. Once a postal vote is complete, voters must mail them back as soon as possible.
Final early voting statistics: Figures will be posted to the AEC social media accounts early on Saturday. The downloads and statistics page of the AEC website will also be updated.