Now is not the time to be complacent, if you’re an Aussie and haven’t posted your vote or voted online yet, do it now!
LGBTI advocates are reluctant to celebrate the results of a new Reachtel poll that shows Australia is on track to vote ‘yes’ to same-sex marriage.
Australians are currently posting back survey forms which ask them if they think the law should be changed to allow same-sex marriage. If the majority of the 16 million eligible voters agree, federal politicians will then vote on legislation to make marriage equality legal.
Sky News commissioned the poll of almost 5,000 people and found 64% of those people had not only voted ‘yes’ but had also already posted back their ballots.
The poll suggests 79% of eligible voters have filled out their survey forms and posted them back.
Another 6% of people will vote ‘yes’, while 15.5% of people have already posted back their ‘no’ votes.
Sky News argued these figures indicate the ‘yes’ vote would lead by a ‘landslide’ and likely force the government to legislate the issue quickly.
The results of the survey will be released on 7 November. Starting this week on every Tuesday, the Australian Bureau of Statistics will reveal a tally of how many postal survey forms it has received so far.
Numbers match up
The Equality Campaign also released the results of its own polling today which show similar results. The campaign’s executive director, Tiernan Brady, said even though the numbers were encouraging, it was not the time for complacency.
‘The polls are strong, but you can’t presume someone else’s vote will get over the line,’ Brady told Gay Star News.
Brady said that was especially true for young people who were more likely to vote ‘yes’, but only 17% of 18-24 year olds have filled out the form but are yet to post it.
The Yes Campaign can be bolstered by the poll results, especially after an already ugly and gruelling campaign.
‘(The poll results) show we have committed consistently to being a positive and respectful campaign,’ Brady said.
‘The LGBTI community, their parents, friends and supporters have shown incredible dignity in the face of very strong provocatation and haven’t taken the bait.
‘The ‘no’ campaign have thrown out a lot of red herrings in this debate, but the Australian people, they haven’t fallen for it.’
Too soon to celebrate
A number of LGBTI people and allies took to Twitter to warn that the poll results might be skewed and not reflective of what the final out come might be.
If polls don't align with the ABS tomorrow you can pretty sure the public polls are overstating support. This will be close
— Rob Stott (@Rob_Stott) October 2, 2017
Just to restate: this poll is wrong. The vote will be much, much closer than this. Don’t be complacent, we need your support. #PostYourYES https://t.co/UcjRnYZMzS
— Paul Kidd ?????️? (@paulkidd) October 2, 2017
I think a lot of No voters distrust opinion pollsters and are refusing to participate when surveyed. This level of support is improbable. pic.twitter.com/OKCKVLrunx
— Jake Holman (@JacobLeigh) October 2, 2017
