Early voting is now open for the 2025 federal election

Early voting for the federal election starts today!

The option of early voting is for anyone who can’t vote on election day (3 May), for reasons such as working, travelling, or illness.

All voting centres will be shut for Anzac Day on Friday 25 April.

Where can I vote?

Starting today, hundreds of voting centres will open around Australia in the lead-up to the election.

However, not all election day booths will be open and hours can vary.

You can search for an early voting centre on the AEC’s website.

Postal voting

If you can’t attend a polling place in person (e.g. you will be overseas), then you can apply for a postal vote.

A ballot paper will then be mailed to you.

In order to be valid, a postal vote must be completed before or on 3 May.

It must reach the AEC by 16 May, 13 days after polling day.

The election

When voting, you need to fill out two pieces of paper.

The first is to elect a representative for your local area (electorate). This person gets one of the 150 seats in the House of Representatives.

Whichever party wins a majority of seats in the House of Reps forms government and its leader becomes the Prime Minister.

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The second ballot is to elect representatives for your state or territory in the Senate.

House of Reps

Australia has a preferential voting system for the House of Reps.

You will need to rank every candidate from first to last.

If your #1 candidate gets the least amount of votes, they will be eliminated and your vote will go to your #2.

This proceeds until one candidate has received enough votes to win the seat.

Senate

The Senate is a larger paper with many names.

There are two different ways you can vote:

• By party, in which case you need to pick at least a top six. This is called voting ‘above the line’, referring to the line you will see on your ballot paper.
• By individual candidate, in which case you need to pick at least a top 12. This is called voting ‘below the line’.

Mistakes

If you make a mistake, don’t worry!

Tell an AEC staff member at the voting centre, and they will give you a new ballot paper.

If a ballot paper isn’t filled in correctly, it will be considered “informal” and won’t count towards the tally.