VOTERS in Logan City Council’s division 7 were irate this morning after long queues formed to be handled by just one Queensland Electoral Commission booth worker.
The problem arose at the Greenbank Community Center Hall, Teviot Road, which is a split polling booth.
People from either division 11 or seven can vote at the booth.
While division 11 voters were ushered through, division 7 voters were forced to stand in steamy conditions in the sun for long periods.
This also caused a back-up in the car park.
Bev Brett who was at the front gate handing out how-to-vote cards for candidate Anne Page said the imbalance in QEC numbers caused substantial irritation with voters.
Ms Brett said some voters had to line up for 30 minutes.
“It’s been upsetting. People were pretty cranky,’’ she said.
A booth worker who declined to be named said he did not know how the snafu occurred but division 11 voters were being directed to the right tables so they too were not stuck in queues.
An QEC spokesman said the joint booth at Teviot Road had 10 polling staff allocated.
“There were initially nine allocated for Division 11 and one allocated to take votes for Division 7,’’ he said.
“These numbers are set by estimate based on the pattern of votes taken in previous elections.
“If delays were apparent it was possible for booth supervisors to reallocate polling booth staff from Division 11 to Division 7.
”Sorry we do not have information on whether that occurred, or whether there was any delay in that occurring.’’
Iva Grech, a booth worker for division 11 candidate Kelly Cousins, said people had turned out in large numbers early.
“It’s all been pretty friendly among the volunteers too,’’ she said.
