UPDATE: Faced with the longest election campaign in half a century, more Bendigo voters are deciding to cast their vote early.
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Pre-poll voting at the close of the day on Wednesday in the electorate was more than 50 per cent higher than at the same point in the 2013 election.
And that figure could be set to sharply rise as the marathon campaign enters its final hours.
With two days to go to until the election day this year, 18,280 Bendigo voters had opted to get their electoral duties out the way early.
At the same point last year that figure was 11,920. The total pre-poll vote for Bendigo in 2013 was 16,498 –meaning about 28 per cent of pre-poll voters cast their ballots in the final two days before the election.
It is part of a national-wide trend which has experts predicting a historic number of Australians will opt to vote before election day.
The fact polling day this year falls in the school holidays appears to be a major motivator for many to avoid the queues on election day.
The Bendigo Advertiser spoke to several pre-poll voters on Wednesday. The large crowd was a diverse mix of ages, genders, professions and voting intentions.
But all bar two said they were voting early because they planned to enjoy their weekend out of town.
Industrial cleaner Nigel Bryan said he has a job in Sydney on Saturday – but would have cast his vote early regardless.
“I always do,” Mr Bryan said.
“It saves the messing around.”
Weeks of political campaigning was lost on the Quarry Hill voter, who said he made his mind up in the booth.
“Who can trust them anyway?” he said.
“They probably won’t see out their full term.”
First time voter Scott Rutherford was also working out of town, the 20-year-old bartender had a weekend shift at Melbourne’s Crown Casino.
“Nope, I haven’t really paid attention to a thing really,” he said.
“Mum told me which way to vote.”
Not all early voters were disengaged, however. Evan Davies said always voted the same way in the lower house.
“For the senate, it’s pretty much when I get into the booth,” he said.
“It was pretty bizarre this year, I’d never heard of half of them!”
Mr Davies said he too was a long time fan of the early vote.
“And this year I’m actually entitled to!” he said.
“I’m heading off to Beechworth for the weekend.
“It’s just better to get it out of the way.”
RMIT student Jake Petraglia said he too had made his mind up months earlier.
“I’ve followed the campaign … but I really didn’t want to have to go through with it on the day.”
The number of registered voters in the division of Bendigo rose from 102,928 in 2013 to 109,615 in 2016 – an increase of 6.5 per cent.
Correction: An early version of this story cited incorrect total pre-poll figures. All polling figures are available via the Australian Electoral Commission website.