There's less than 24 hours to go until the four new Queensland Council elections, including Douglas Shire, are officially held, but more than one third of electors have already voted.

Accdording to the Electoral Commission of Queensland, pre-poll voting is proving popular in all four areas, including Douglas. Acting Electoral Commissioner Walter van der Merwe said that pre-poll voting is tracking 40 per cent higher as compared to the same eight day period during the de-amalgamation polls held in March this year.

As in the other three new local government areas (Mareeba, Noosa and Livingstone), Douglas postal voting was currently sitting around five per cent, with the rest of the early voters choosing pre-polling.

Douglas Shire voters will receive two ballot papers, one for the Mayoral ballot and one for Councillors. 

“When voting for Mayor, only one square requires marking, using a 1, tick or x in the selected candidate’s square“ said Mr van der Merwe.

“When voting for a multiple number of councillors, electors are required to vote for the number of councillors to be elected for that council.”  Mr van der Merwe reminds all electors to carefully read and follow the instructions on the ballot paper to ensure their vote counts.

While much has been made of Douglas' large field of candidates, with three for Mayor and 15 contesting four councillor positions, Livingstone voters have even more options, with the same number of mayoral candidates but a whopping 27 councillor candidates vying to be elected for the six councillor positions.

Mareeba has two mayoral candidates and 17 candidates for councillor with 6 councillors to be elected, while in Noosa there are two mayoral candidates and 19 candidates running for the 6 councillor positions.

Mr van der Merwe said that polls open at 8am on Saturday morning and closed at 6pm. Results of the count would be progressively placed on the web site during Saturday evening. 

While the events on 9 November focus on a selection of Queensland electors, Mr van der Merwe reinforced the importance of getting it right.  “People deeply care about their local regions and it is vital the commission delivers a fair and transparent process allowing their collective voice to be heard”.

Voting for elections is compulsory.

Full information on the voting process is available on the ECQ web site.