Postal voting
Request a postal vote
You can request a postal vote for the current Central Highlands Regional Council by-election and Stafford State by-election below.
Central Highlands by-election
Stafford State by-election
Your ballot materials will be printed and lodged with Australia Post after candidate nominations close.
Postal vote requests for both by-elections close at 7pm on Monday 4 May 2026.
You need to complete your vote by 6pm Saturday 16 May 2026 and the ECQ must receive it by Tuesday 26 May 2026 so your vote can be counted.
About postal voting
It’s not easy for everyone to get to the ballot box in person on election day, so postal voting provides a flexible option for Queenslanders to make sure everyone can have their say.
Once you request, your voting materials will be mailed to you once the candidates are known.
Watch the short animation to learn more about applying for, and completing, a postal vote – or read the instructions below.
Are you a special postal voter?
If you are listed on the electoral roll as a special postal voter, silent elector or if the election in your area is a full postal ballot, your voting materials will be mailed to you automatically.
Watch this short video to learn more about postal voting.
How to complete a postal vote
Once your postal vote arrives in the mail, you will need to complete the following five steps:
- Open and read the instructions on your ballot paper. Detach the ballot paper from the declaration envelope and then complete your vote. You can do this as soon as you receive it in the mail.
- Then, fold your ballot paper/s in half, place into the declaration envelope and seal it.
- Sign the declaration envelope where it says You sign here. Have a witness sign where it says Your witness signs here.
- Put your sealed and signed declaration envelope into the Reply Paid envelope.
- Post the Reply Paid envelope as soon as you can.
Remember you MUST vote before 6pm on election day.
Votes must be received by the ECQ within 10 days after election day to be included in the count. If a vote is received AFTER the deadline, it can’t be included. Any late votes are recorded and stored.
The counting of all votes begins after 6pm on election day.
Learn more about Queensland’s voting systems or how assisted voting services may help you.
What happens once we receive your postal vote?
- Prior to the count, postal vote declaration envelopes received are extracted from the reply paid envelope and ECQ staff will check its validity:
- ensuring the declaration has been signed and witnessed and the ballot paper enclosed
- scrutinising the returned postal vote in the ECQ’s election management system.
- Accepted postal votes have the ballot paper(s) extracted from the declaration envelope and stored in a sealed ballot box.
- Postal vote counting begins at 6pm on election day and scrutiny and counting continues for up to 10 days after election day.
- Ballot papers are assessed for formality and counted in accordance with the ECQ’s counting procedures.
- Postal vote counts are progressive. Each time a batch is counted, there must be enough votes to ensure the secrecy of the vote. Sometimes the ECQ will wait to receive enough returned postal votes before conducting additional scrutiny, count and reporting to the ECQ’s website.