Voters cranky about queues
Australians attempting to vote early this morning faced lengthy lines at the polling booths â with waiting times at some stations around the country blowing out to more than an hour.
Voters took to Twitter and the ABCâs live election blog to complain about long lines.
âWorst year set up for voting. Was there for nearly an hour,â Laura Mousley wrote.
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Jean said the line at Mount Lawley Primary in Western Australia was âgetting ridiculous but everyone is happily soaking up the sunâ.
Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) spokesman Evan Ekin-Smyth said queues were always a part of polling day.
âIt always tends to be busier in the morning ⌠and tends to dry up in the afternoon,â he said.
âWe often see some polling places, especially in centre of a town, can be quite busy.â
Mr Ekin-Smyth recommended voters either search for another nearby polling booth, or return in the afternoon.
âI suggest people look for an alternative if they can. Otherwise in the afternoons it tends to get a bit quieter,â he said.
âIf someone get in the queue at 6pm their vote will count. We donât shut them out.â
However, some voters said they were able to walk in and out with no wait at all.
Brett who voted at East Kempsey just after 9:00am said he had no problems.
âThree issuing officers ready and waiting. Five voters in the eight booths. While I was voting six people came in all at once â and all had their ballot papers in two minutes.â
The AEC has 75,000 people working around the country in about 7,000 polling stations.
People are deadset waiting half an hour for a sausage at Old Parliament House. Not to vote, for a sanga. #ausvotes pic.twitter.com/YBiHP3a1sF
â Tom Lowrey (@tomlowrey) July 2, 2016
Just witnessed that great Aussie tradition of someone whinging they had to queue for 6 minutes to vote cf millions whoâd risk their lives to
â Adam Spencer (@adambspencer) July 2, 2016
Still a steady stream of customers at the sausage sizzle at Townsville Central State School @abcnews pic.twitter.com/ae6PT98F0s
â David Chen (@dchen21) July 2, 2016
Planning to vote at the Office for Recreation & Sport in Hindmarsh? Bring a book for the queue. #ausvotes @abcnews pic.twitter.com/gTXvreCG2T
â Tom Fedorowytsch (@tomfed) July 2, 2016
The lines are long both for snags and votes at Annandale school, some say theyâve waited 45 mins! #ausvotes @abcnews pic.twitter.com/Hm5n2mxPV2
â Thuy Ong (@ThuyOng) July 2, 2016
This is the line at Townsville Central State School. AEC Officer overheard saying âweâre getting smashedâ @abcnews pic.twitter.com/3EUwEZtab9
â David Chen (@dchen21) July 2, 2016
Massive 1 hr queue at Majura Park Primary in Watson ACT as people wait to vote @abcnewsCanberra @abcnews #ausvotes pic.twitter.com/aNLzM33RSe
â Jonathon Gul (@JonoGul) July 2, 2016
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