When, where and how to vote in Douglas Shire?
2022 federal election time
What is your vision for the future? Did you do your research and have you already decided on your favourite candidates? I bet you did. The election time starts now!
Early voting centres opened nationally on Monday, May 9. Pre-polling in Douglas Shire opens on Monday, May 16 at the Port Douglas Community Centre (13-29 Mowbray Street). More information can be found on the Douglas Shire website.
The hours for early voting are between 8:30am and 5:30pm from Monday May 16 to Thursday 19 May and on Friday 20 May from 8:30am to 6pm. On election day, May 21 2022, you can vote from 8am to 6pm at the following locations:
- Mossman State School (30-34 Front St, Mossman)
- Miallo State School (Miallo Rd, Miallo)
- Wonga Beach State School (48074 Snapper Island Dr, Wonga Beach)
- Daintree State School (4-8 Dagmar St, Daintree)
- Alexandra Bay State School (1630 Cape Tribulation Rd, Diwan)
- Port Douglas Community Centre (6/10 Mowbray St)
The voters who do not wish to vote in person but prefer to request a postal ballot, can do so before Wednesday May 18 2022. They can request this via the Australian Electoral Commission website or from one of their offices.
How to vote?
Everyone needs to submit the green ballot paper putting numbers into the boxes starting with 1 for your most favourite candidate and then 2, 3, 4, and so on for the others. This green ballot paper indicates those who will speak for us in the House of Representatives. Don’t forget to number every single box for your vote to count.
The Senate ballot paper offers two ways to vote. You can choose which one is better for you. The two options are ‘above the line’ and ‘below the line’. The first option ‘above the line’ wants you to choose 6 options, 1 to 6 in the order of your preference for a party. The ‘below line’ indicates to thick 12 boxes. Each of the 12 boxes has name attached to it. Number 1 to 12, with number 1 as your first choice.
You can number more than the indicated numbers for the boxes in both ways, more than 12 below or more than 6 above the line.
Your vote counts
The challenges we all faced during the COVID19 pandemic will have long lasting consequences. People in many parts of Australia feel the economic and socio-cultural pressures. I am sure you have your favourite candidates and not so favourite ones. Your vote does matter to have a good future for all of us, so do vote!
A good friend told me recently that “here in Australia we vote people out of the parliament and not into the parliament”. I found this very fitting, growing up in Europe, to see things from a different point of view and think of the future leaders as those who are currently ‘out of the frame’.
You can follow the ABC News link to learn more about each of the candidates. I do believe that diplomacy is one of the crucial characteristics of a politician. No matter the colour of your skin, gender, or belief, we all co-create the values and the environment for a future to come.