2020 State General Election

In consultation with health authorities, the ECQ has implemented a COVID-safe plan for all polling places to ensure Queenslanders can vote easily and safely in the 2020 State general election.

There are a range of health protocols in place that follow advice from the Chief Health Officer:

• Plan your vote – who will you vote for?
• Know where and when you will vote
• Stay 1.5 metres apart
• Use hand sanitiser
• Bring your own pen or pencil

If you have received a Voter Information Card in the mail or by email, bring this when you vote. This makes marking you off the electoral roll faster.

These measures were used in the March 2020 local government elections with great success. There was no recorded infection spike following the local government elections. The ECQ follows health direction from Queensland’s Chief Health Officer and implements actions on her advice.

A VIC is sent to all eligible electors in Queensland either in the mail or via email. The VIC has a QR code that is scanned at a polling booth. This is a quick way to be marked off the electoral roll and means you can spend less time in a polling booth.

If you are postal voting or telephone voting (only for eligible electors), you won’t need your VIC.

A delay in receiving your VIC in the post or via email, it could be because:

• you haven’t updated the electoral roll and the VIC has gone to a previous address – go to aec.gov.au to check your enrolment details
• you don’t have an email address included in your enrolment. You can add this by going to aec.gov.au and updating your enrolment
• you don’t have a letterbox – Australia Post will only deliver if there is a letterbox
• the postal system is taking longer than expected.

Voting options for the 2020 State general election included:

• Election day voting was open from 8am to 6pm on Saturday 31 October.
• Telephone voting was available for eligible electors unable to vote in person or apply for a postal vote e.g. an overseas or interstate elector or someone with a disability. Telephone voting has closed.
• Postal voting applications have closed and postal ballot papers are being sent now. If you have applied for a postal vote, you must vote before 6pm on election day, 31 October and the ECQ must receive it by 10 November 2020 to be counted.
• Early voting was offered from 19 to 30 October and has now closed.

No. There is no online voting.

Telephone voting was available for eligible electors unable to vote in person or apply for a postal vote e.g. an overseas or interstate elector or someone with a disability.

Telephone voting has closed.

Queensland general elections have full preferential voting. To make your vote count, you must number all the boxes in your order of preference starting with 1. For further details go to the Full preferential voting fact sheet PDF (0.98 MB).

You can find the election timetable for the 2020 State general election here.

Information on candidate nominations for each electorate can be found on the ECQ website here.

If you want to know specific candidate policies and ideas, contact their political party or the candidate.

How-to-vote cards are available once lodged with and approved by the ECQ. How-to-vote cards to be distributed on election day are published on the ECQ candidates web page.

To view how-to-vote cards go to the candidates list, search for the candidate, then click on the arrow next to the candidate’s name to view their how-to-vote card. Note: Not all candidates have submitted a how-to-vote card.

Some registered political parties have provided the ECQ with a statewide version of how-to-vote cards that can viewed here.

Telephone voting for overseas or interstate electors has closed.

Telephone voting was offered to overseas or interstate electors if they were on the electoral roll in Queensland for the 2020 State general election.

Yes. Once the writ has been issued and the election period is underway, all electoral materials MUST be authorised with the name and street address of the authoriser. A PO Box is not suitable. The authorisation must be able to be read. For further information go to the Electoral Advertising and Authorisation of Election Material fact sheet. Election advertising rules are detailed in the Electoral Act 1992.

The election is declared when the outcome of each electorate is mathematically certain. With the high number of postal votes for the 2020 State general election, it is possible declarations will be made when all votes received are counted after the deadline for the return of postal votes on 10 November. In the 2017 State general election, most electorates (45) were declared 12 days after election day.

Postal voting applications for the State general election have closed.

The ECQ opened postal vote applications early, from Monday, 14 September to Friday, 16 October 2020, to allow more time for electors to apply.

Yes. However postal voting applications for the State general election have closed.

The electoral roll is publicly viewable at electoral commission offices in Australia. When an election is called, political parties and candidates can access the electoral roll to send out voting information. If you wish to be anonymous (a silent elector) go to the Australian Electoral Commission website at aec.gov.au to update your enrolment.

The ECQ asks electors to vote, sign, witness and return their ballot materials in the envelope provided as soon as possible after receiving them.

You must have voted before 6pm on election day, 31 October and the ECQ must have received it by 10 November 2020 to be counted.