More than 50,000 voters in the Ballarat electorate had their say in this year's Federal Election before election day today, with pre-polling numbers well up on 2016.
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According to statistics from the AEC, 43,649 people cast votes before election day. There were 32,220 pre-poll votes cast in 2016.
Combined with postal votes, which numbered a little more than 8,000 in 2016, and are slightly higher this time according to the AEC, the total number of votes cast in the run-up to election day will certainly exceed 50,000.
It still means that more than half the electorate will have cast their vote today on election day but not by a huge margin.
There are 114,981 eligible voters registered to vote in Ballarat this time.
The total number of eligible people on the electoral roll in 2016 was 110,793, while the total number of votes counted in the Ballarat electorate was 103,168, which equated to a turnout of 93.15 per cent.
This was in fact significantly higher than the national turn-out, which was the lowest percentage since records began - but a higher enrolment level makes that sound worse than it was.
Anecdotal reports from around the region today suggest that fundraising from sausage sizzles may be down due to pre-polling.
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