According to the Australian Electoral Commission, 96.8 per cent of those eligible to vote are enrolled.

At least 5 million of the 16.4 million registered Australian voters are expected to forgo their democracy sausage and vote early in the 2019 federal election.

The enthusiasm for voting early is part of a new trend; many took advantage of pre-polling in Dubbo for the recent state election; that trend looks like it will continue for the federal election.

At the 2007 election, the rate of pre-poll voters was around eight per cent, in 2016 it jumped to more than than 22 per cent, in 2019 it will be higher again.

Australian National University professor Ian McAllister spoke to the Sydney Morning Herald and said by the early 2020s, about 50 per cent of all votes will be cast before election day.

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While he does not have a specific projection for 2019, he notes, "it's not going to be less" than in 2016.

Political experts say more and more of us are voting early because we find it convenient. Those voting early on Monday seem to agree.

The most common reasons we hear for voting early are; avoiding the line-up on voting day, avoiding people shoving how to vote cards in your face, knowing who you are voting for, so there is no reason to wait until the day and wanting to have control over when you vote.

Dr Paul Williams of Griffith University said several factors have contributed to the rise in popularity of early voting.

"The 24/7 lifestyle people now lead certainly has led to an increased amount of people voting early, " he said.

"Some people work Saturday's so they can't vote on the day, we are a transient economy, and culturally we dip in an out, we shop when we want to, we watch television when we want to, we live in a very flexible world, so the Electoral Commission has just accommodated that by making pre-poll voting more accessible."

According to a 2016 Australian Electoral Commission survey, 78 per cent of those who voted on official election day were satisfied with the "length of time you had to wait" to vote. For those who pre-polled, the figure was 95 per cent.

Officially, you need a valid reason to pre-poll, such as you will be travelling, working or having a baby on election day. But it seems those rules have been relaxed.

Happy voting.