More than 3800 vote early in Durack ahead of predicted venue closures on election day

More than 3800 Durack constituents have already cast their ballot ahead of the Federal election, but there are concerns some may not be able to vote at polling booths on Saturday because of staff shortages. The Australian Electoral Commission on Wednesday announced some polling places in Durack may be closed if staff vacancies could not be filled. Affected venues in the Mid West and Gascoyne would include the Meekatharra Shire Hall, Eneabba Primary School, Spalding Community Centre and Mount Tarcoola Primary School. The AEC on Thursday said more than 5000 additional staff had signed up to work on election day, meaning the number of polling places forced to close would be reduced. But Electoral Commissioner Tom Rogers said new vacancies could still open at polling places because of the high daily COVID case load, meaning more venues would be unable to open. “The new registrations mean some of the locations we identified are no longer of critical concern but others are still falling short and, given the current environment, there could be new areas of concern arise,” Mr Rogers said. He encouraged voters to make use of pre-polling opportunities in case no staff were able to operate venues on Saturday. As of time of print, about 3860 Durack constituents had voted, with 1384 of those ballots from Geraldton voters. Polling booths will be open from 8am to 6pm on Saturday and the deadline for applying for a postal vote has now closed.