Residents in central Victoria say the closure of three local polling booths is a "kick in the teeth" for rural communities, with voters facing longer trips to cast their ballots in the upcoming state election.
An analysis of Victorian Electoral Commission data has revealed 36 regional towns that had a polling booth at the 2022 state election will no longer have one within five kilometres.
In nine of those towns, the nearest voting centre was at least 10km away for this election.
The furthest is Lalbert, in the state's north-west, where voters will need to travel to Quambatook, about 24km away. Only 26 voters cast their ballot in Lalbert in 2022.
The Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC) has confirmed three booths west of Bendigo at Bridgewater on Loddon, Tarnagulla and Marong are among those not being reopened.
Jill Hobbs, president of the Bridgewater on Loddon Development group said the group was told last week that its Memorial Hall would not be needed this year.
"No explanation. Was our amenity deficient in some way?" Ms Hobbs said.
"We have no idea, we just got told [it's] not going to be used this time."
Bridgewater voters will now need to travel to Inglewood, about 8 kilometres away.
Last week, the VEC reversed a decision to close a polling booth that would have left…
