Around 12,000 people are expected to visit Tamworth’s pre-polling station in the lead up to the December 2 New England byelection.
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But the venue has no wheelchair access.
And of the six early voting centres across the electorate, none have complete wheelchair access.
Resident Fiona Russell took to social media on Wednesday to express her anger.
“Not one early voting centre in the entire electorate has wheelchair access that doesn’t require assistance,” she said.
“Five out (of) six have wheelchair access ‘with assistance’ and Tamworth has no wheelchair access.
“What year is this again?”
However, a spokesperson for the Australian Electoral Commission said with the help of polling staff, it shouldn’t be an issue.
“The AEC endeavours to find polling venues that meet a range of criteria, including wheelchair accessibility,” the spokesperson said.
“Pre-poll voting locations clearly need to be available (and) vacant on short notice for a period of nearly three weeks and be able to cater to the demand of early voting in the relevant location.”
The spokesperson said in Tamworth, a single brick step is why the venue has been declared “not wheelchair accessible”.
“Our polling staff of course will be able to assist with the voting process as required,” the spokesperson said.
But Armidale resident Fiona Baillie said that wasn’t good enough.
“It’s about giving people a bit of dignity,” she wrote on social media.
“Not everybody enjoys asking for assistance and those in wheelchairs have a right to independence.
“I can imagine that all too often those in wheelchairs are made to feel a little bit more of a burden than others.”
For more information on wheelchair accessibility visit the AEC website.