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Federal election 2025 | What to expect

District residents will head to the polls on Saturday to vote in the federal election. Photo by Irene Dowdy

Find out who the candidates are in each local electorate, where to vote, where election results can be found, and what will happen on election night this year.

Nicholls

The Nicholls federal electorate map. Source: Australian Electoral Commission.

The federal electorate of Nicholls has been held by Sam Birrell since 2022, and historically has been a safe Nationals or Liberal seat.

It covers 14,116 sq km, and spans parts of five different shires, including most of Campaspe and all of Greater Shepparton.

A full list of candidates for Nicholls and local voting locations are rounded up below, with links to full profiles for most available by clicking each name.

Nicholls candidates, in order of ballot draw

Kim Travers | Australian Labor Party

Paul Bachelor | Family First Party

Glenn Floyd | Trumpet of Patriots

Aaron Tyrrell | One Nation

Sam Birrell | The Nationals

Jeff Davy | Australian Citizens Party

Shelby Eade | The Greens

Voting locations, Campaspe Shire Council

Bamawm

Bamawm Sports Centre, 714 Bamawm Hall Rd.

Echuca

Echuca East Primary School, 21-31 Eyre St.

Echuca Primary School, 413-431 High St.

Echuca Recreation Centre, Tech School Dve.

Gunbower

Gunbower Memorial Hall, 11 Main St.

Lockington

Lockington & District Community Centre, Barton St.

Nanneella

Nanneella Estate Primary School, 159 Bennett Rd.

Tongala

Tongala RSL Sub-Branch, 1921 Mangan St.

Torrumbarry

Torrumbarry Public Hall, Murray Valley Hwy.

Farrer

The Farrer federal electorate map. Source: Australian Electoral Commission.

The federal electorate of Farrer has been held by Sussan Ley since 2001, and historically has been a safe Liberal or Nationals seat.

It covers 126,563 sq km, and spans 14 shires, including Murray River Council.

A full list of candidates for the Farrer federal electorate and local voting locations are rounded up below, with links to full profiles for most available by clicking each name.

Farrer candidates, in order of ballot draw

Sussan Ley | Liberal Party

Glen Hyde | Labor Party

Michelle Milthorpe | Independent

Richard August Hendrie | The Greens

Emma Hicks | One Nation

Peter Sinclair | Shooters, Fishers and Farmers

David O’Reilly | People First Party

Rebecca Scriven | Family First Party

Tanya Hargraves | Trumpet of Patriots

Voting locations, Murray River Council

Moama

Moama Public School, 23-39 Simms St.

Mathoura

Mathoura Visitor Business Centre, 23 Moama St.

Barham

Riverside Reception Centre, 15 Murray St.

Bendigo

The Bendigo federal electorate map. Source: Australian Electoral Commission.

The federal electorate of Bendigo has been held by Lisa Chesters since 2013, and has been a safe Labor seat since the late 1990s.

It covers 6178 sq km, and spans parts of five different shires, including Campaspe to the north and all of Greater Bendigo.

A full list of candidates for the Bendigo federal electorate and local voting locations are rounded up below, with links to full profiles for most available by clicking each name.

Please note: links will open in the Campaspe News website.

Bendigo candidates, in order of ballot draw

Evelyn Keetelaar | Family First Party

Avery Barnett-Dacey | The Greens

Heather Freeman | One Nation

Lisa Chesters | Labor Party

Andrew Lethlean | The Nationals

Matthew Bansemer | Libertarian Party

Rohan Tyler | Victorian Socialists

David Vincent | Independent

Wayne Taylor | Legalise Cannabis Australia

Matthew Evans | Liberal Party

Voting locations, Greater Bendigo

Elmore

Elmore Community Hub, 3 Clarke St, Elmore.

Goornong

Goornong Community Centre, 32 Bagshot St, Goornong.

Rochester

Rochester Secondary College, 26 Edward St, Rochester.

Early voting is open until Friday, May 2 at St Mary’s Parish Centre, 222-230 Anstruther St, Echuca.

The centre is open from: Monday, April 28 to Thursday, May 1; 8.30am to 5.30pm; and Friday, May 2; 8.30am to 6pm.

Voters from Nicholls, Farrer and Bendigo are eligible to vote early at the centre if they satisfy the following reasons:

  • are outside the electorate where you are enrolled to vote.
  • are more than 8km from a polling place.
  • are travelling.
  • are unable to leave your workplace to vote.
  • are seriously ill, infirm or due to give birth shortly (or caring for someone who is).
  • are a person with disability (or caring for someone who is).
  • are a patient in hospital and can't vote at the hospital.
  • have religious beliefs that prevent you from attending a polling place.
  • are in prison serving a sentence of less than three years or otherwise detained.
  • are a silent elector.
  • have a reasonable fear for your safety or wellbeing.

Election results and counting

To stay up to date on election day, check in on The Riv website as McPherson Media Group will be running a live blog on May 3 featuring content from polling booths across Nicholls as well as live poll updates.

Where can results be found?

The Australian Electoral Commission will start counting votes at 6pm local time on Saturday, May 3, around the country.

Results will be updated progressively on the AEC’s Tally Room after 6pm AEST, refreshed every 90 seconds on the night.

A link to the Tally Room will be available on the AEC site’s home page on election night.

What is counted on election night?

All House of Representatives and Senate votes cast near a voter’s home division on election day will be counted on the night.

The majority of pre-poll votes for the House of Representatives cast near a voter’s home division will also be counted on the night.

About 2000 postal votes will also be counted in most electoral divisions this election night for the first time.

What time will counts be reported?

As there is no certain timing, each count from polling places, pre-poll centres, and initial postal votes will be published once finalised by the AEC.

It’s reasonable to expect smaller polling places will have results posted around 7pm local time, while a flow of mid to large-sized polls should see results from 8pm onwards.

As pre-poll counts can be huge, they generally start being displayed from about 9.30pm local time and late into the night.

Will there be an overall result on election night?

The first indications of results in individual House of Representatives divisions, and who will form the government, are always made by electoral analysts and commentators.

Whether a clear indication of a result is available or not depends on how close the margin in a particular seat is.

The AEC never officially declares results of a federal election on the night.

How does the full Senate count work?

Senate results can only be calculated and declared after the process of scanning and verifying the ballot papers is completed.

Each Senate ballot paper, and every preference marked by voters, is verified by an AEC staff member.

This will take a number of weeks to occur, as Senate ballot papers contain hundreds of millions of preferences.