Key events14m agoFriday biggest day of pre-polling in Australia’s history17m agoGood morningFilters BETAKey events (2)Australian Electoral Commission (3)2m ago17.45 EDT
We can expect a steady stream of political “doorstops” and interviews today.
Nationals leader David Littleproud has just spoken to the ABC a few seconds ago – I’ll bring you some of that in a few minutes.
But here’s some of what we’re expecting – and this could change.
NSW Premier Chris Minns will join Linda Burney, Federal Minister for Indigenous Australians and David Harris, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Treaty to at a school in Carlton and then hold a press conference in the next 30 minutes.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is expected to say a few words from Balmain in the next hour, before travelling to Illawarra and then Canberra
No campaigner Senator Lidia Thorpe is expected to vote in the next hour and make a statement.
8m ago17.39 EDT
Some more statistics on the voting today from the Australian Electoral Commission.
About 6.13 million people voted at an early voting centre, compared to 5.6 million at the 2022 federal election.
About 9.2 million need to visit a polling place today.
Some 2.1 million people applied for a postal vote.
AEC mobile polling teams took votes from 135,000 people.
Some 47,000 people voted in overseas polling places
About 8.41 million have either voted early or have voted by post
Updated at 17.43 EDT14m ago17.33 EDTFriday biggest day of pre-polling in Australia’s history
We already know that the voice referendum is the biggest vote – in terms of enrolments – that Australia has ever seen. Some 17,676,347 people are enrolled.
The Australian Electoral Commission revealed this morning that Friday was the biggest ever single day of pre-polling, with more than a million votes cast.
That means that as the referendum day polling booths opened, some 6.13 million Australians had already cast their vote.
Today is voting day!
Remember that voting is compulsory for all enrolled Australian Citizens 18+. If you haven’t voted already, get down to your local polling place and vote. Voting opens at 8am and closes at 6pm sharp (local time).https://t.co/0CRbYikLIP pic.twitter.com/EgEkOXYCPc
— AEC ✏️ (@AusElectoralCom) October 13, 2023Updated at 17.43 EDT17m ago17.30 EDTGood morning
Welcome to Guardian Australia’s live news blog for this historic Saturday.
A Proposed Law: to alter the Constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.
Do you approve this proposed alteration?
After months of campaigning by the yes and no groups, more than 7,000 polling places across Australia will open their doors at 8am local time for the voice referendum.
Polling places close at 6pm. The Australian Electoral Commission has said some 6.13 million people have already voted, which leaves more than 9 million people still to write yes or no in a box.
We’ll keep across other news…
2023-10-13 16:43:51
Article from www.theguardian.com