Concerns raised with Warrnambool federal election early voting centre access

The Raglan Parade pre-polling site open to early voters from May 9 has been flagged by Wannon United Australia Party (UAP) candidate Craige Kensen as being inaccessible and lacking car parks.

Mr Kensen said he thought the Australian Electoral Commission's (AEC) chosen location was "inadequate".

"There's limited access," he said. "They knew there was an election coming for three years. They've had adequate time to plan."

The Standard visited the early voting centre at Unit 1, 1051 Raglan Parade where it found the location had limited public transport and pedestrian access.

The site also shares parking spaces with adjacent Warrnambool businesses Crystal Water Pool n Spa and Bryan and Petersen construction company.

Mr Kensen said it was already difficult for him to find a car park when he visited the centre last week.

"I don't know where people are going to park," he said. "You've got the businesses running there and it's such a narrow road."

"You can't park on the other side because there's a three-lane carriageway."

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The UAP candidate said the centre's inaccessibility would likely be problematic for candidates looking to campaign there, and deter people from participating in early voting.

"You've got candidates with their volunteers, they'll be there with their how to vote cards, I don't know where they're going to park," he said.

"People want to get (voting) done, they want to get it out of the way so they're not in a rush on polling day."

According to AEC data, 18,848 votes were cast at Warrnambool's pre-polling centre in 2019.

An AEC spokeswoman said they had limited time to lock in pre-poll centres and polling locations from the election's announcement date to the start of early voting and polling day.

"With over 8000 venues and a lot of competing priorities when it comes to selecting polling places, an important one we take into account is accessibility," the spokeswoman said.

She said information about the Raglan Parade early voting centre access was available for the public to view on the AEC website which stated there is no parking on the site.

"It's also important to note that on polling day itself, Warrnambool will have a number of polling places including St Joseph's Primary school and Warrnambool Primary School, both of which will have on site parking available," she said.

The spokeswoman said postal voting was an option for those who could not vote early or on polling day.

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