I need help voting

Help at polling places

Voting in person

If you need help voting, you can bring a friend or relative with you to the polling place. You can also ask an election official to help you.

Your assistant can act as an interpreter, read the ballot paper to you, complete your ballot paper according to your instructions and place your ballot paper in the ballot box.

Polling place accessibility

The location of polling places and early voting centres will be published on the ECQ’s website before an election. We include information about accessibility for every polling place and early voting centre.

There are 3 classifications for polling place accessibility. Polling places are rated:

  • fully accessible
  • assisted access
  • not accessible

When determining accessibility ratings, wheelchair accessibility is considered.

If you go to a polling place and are not able to access the voting centre, an election official can:

  • bring ballot papers to your vehicle
  • give you time to complete the ballot paper
  • place your ballot paper in the ballot box.

The election official will be accompanied by another person to ensure your ballot paper is submitted correctly.

There will be a sign outside the polling place with the phone number to call to request this service.

Easy read guide

Read our Easy Read guide to voting in a State general election. The information in this guide is written an easy to read way. Pictures are used to explain some ideas.

The Guide is available 2 formats:

Many ways to vote

If it’s difficult to vote in person on election day, you have other options to make it easy for you to vote.

Early voting

All voters in Queensland can vote during the early voting period for an election. The early voting period is usually the 2 weeks before the election. Early voting times and locations are published before the election.

You can find an early voting centre near you using the Find my Polling Place tool.

Postal voting

Some people find it easier to read and fill out their ballot paper at a safe space like home or school. Some people are not able to go to a polling place during voting hours.

The ECQ can mail a ballot paper and other election material to you. This is called postal voting. You need to fill out a request to receive a postal vote.

Watch this short video to learn more about postal voting.

You can find out more about postal voting and request a postal vote for current elections on our postal voting page.

Telephone voting

You may be able to vote over the phone. People with disability who need assistance voting or cannot get to a polling place are eligible. There are several reasons a person might be eligible to vote by telephone. Please see our Telephone voting fact sheet for more information.

Telephone voting involves several steps and 2 phone calls. This helps make sure your vote is safe and anonymous.

If you qualify to vote by phone, contact the ECQ at 1300 912 782 to register. For the 2024 State general election, registration opens the same time early voting begins (Monday 14 October).

Declared institution voting

For some elections, the ECQ visits registered declared institutions, such as aged care facilities. This visit allows residents to vote at a voting booth set up in the residence or from their bed if they cannot leave their room.

To register a new declared institution, please contact the ECQ.

Do people with dementia have to vote?

If your relative or someone you care for is living with limited decision-making capability (e.g. dementia) and is no longer capable of understanding the nature and significance of voting, you can remove their name from the electoral roll.

Visit the Australian Electoral Commission’s website and follow their instructions about removing someone’s name from the electoral roll.

Translation and interpretation

If you speak a language other than English, we have translated information available in 25 languages. Language Loop also offers telephone translation and interpreting services for electors with no or limited English. Visit our Other Languages page for translated election information.

Information about how to vote is available in our multilingual guide to voting. The guide contains 25 languages as well as simple English.