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How is the election going? Busy, they say

YOU know the community is engaged in the Victorian State Election by the record number of pre-poll votes being lodged at Early Voting Centres, including those at Cowes, Wonthaggi and Leongatha. Supporters handing out ‘how to vote’ cards for...

by Michael Giles

Published November 18, 2022

How is the election going? Busy, they say — It has been busy, very busy on the booths as voters make their selections well ahead of election day.

YOU know the community is engaged in the Victorian State Election by the record number of pre-poll votes being lodged at Early Voting Centres, including those at Cowes, Wonthaggi and Leongatha.

Supporters handing out ‘how to vote’ cards for their candidates say the numbers of people voting early have been strong throughout the week.

“There’s going to be a lot of sausages left over at this rate,” said Wonthaggi identity, Sam Gatto.

But they couldn’t say who they thought was leading the way in the tightly contested seat of Bass.

Those on the Bass booths, at Wonthaggi and Cowes, did say however, that the vote was going strongly three ways, but with significant interest in the Greens, Animal Justice Party and independents supporting the ‘Save the Westernport Woodlands’ campaign which has prominently located corflutes on both booths and plenty of ‘how to vote’ card support.

In the Gippsland South District, support is strongly favouring the Nationals’ Danny O’Brien as expected.

There’s still one week of pre-poll voting to go but at this rate, as many as two-thirds of voters will have lodged their vote ahead of Election Day, Saturday, November 26, which already looks like being a damp squib.

As far as the betting odds go, Sportsbet has the Labor Government at a red-hot $1.05 odds-on favourite, with a Coalition win at 10-1.

In the Bass District, the two Coalition candidates, Brett Tessari (Nationals) and Aaron Brown (Liberals) are predicted to have the result between them at $1.35 for a $1 bet but Labor’s Jordan Crugnale has been wound in by the bookies, from $4 to $3.05, meaning Sportsbet believes she has closed the gap to the two other main contenders.

Danny O’Brien is an unbackable favourite to win Gippsland South at $1.01.

Labor’s Denise Ryan is at the long odds of $14.

The bookies are framing an interesting market for the seat of Morwell with Labor’s Dr Kate Maxfield set to return that traditional blue-collar electorate to the Labor fold, quoted at a $1.70 favourite over the Coalition’s Martin Cameron ( Nationals) and Dale Harriman (Liberals). A win in Morwell could prove crucial in the final analysis.

Early Voting Centre locations