So far, there has been a gradual flow, if not a raging torrent, of voters turning up at the venues, they being 34D Orient Street in Batemans Bay, and 39 Vulcan Street, Moruya.

“We have had an orderly stream of pre-poll voters, mostly people who are going away, (on September 10),” Batemans Bay polling official John Bourne said.

“There must have been good advertising, because candidates and voters are enthusiastically embracing the process.”

Mayoral candidate and current deputy mayor Rob Pollock said that pre-poll voting was “always a bit slow”, but that it had started to pick up at both venues.

“The behaviour of the candidates, volunteers and voters has been very good,” he said.

However, Mayor Lindsay Brown has a grievance with the Electoral Commission regarding pre-polling.

“In the Bega Valley there is one pre-poll place for two weeks, and here we will have them for two weeks in Batemans Bay and Moruya and a week in Narooma, so our council will pay a lot more,” he said.

Pre-poll voting at 96 Campbell Street in Narooma will begin on September 5 and run to 5.30pm on September 9. 

Cr Brown also said he had had another six of his team’s election signs stolen this week, taking the number to 45 since the disappearances began last week.