South Australian electoral commissioner forced to withdraw dozens of early votes

Bob Van Den Heuvel is one of 80 South Australians to have their state election vote withdrawn. (ABC News: Eric Tlozek )

The Electoral Commission of South Australia has admitted 80 people have had their state election votes withdrawn because of a problem at an early voting centre.

It says a laptop at the Christies Beach pre-poll location was referencing an old version of the electoral roll for the first hour of voting on Monday, March 7.

The laptop needed to be rebooted and the electoral commissioner has withdrawn the declaration votes of those affected.

The commission said local electoral staff have contacted affected voters to enable them to cast new ballots.

Christie Downs man Bob Van Den Heuvel believes he is one of those affected.

He was shocked when he tried to vote at the pre-poll centre on Monday, but was told he was in the wrong electorate.

"The laptops they checked my check-in on had different details to my voting cards," he said.

The electoral commission has confirmed the problem was only at the Christies Beach early voting centre.  (ABC News: Lincoln Rothall )

Mr Van Den Heuvel raised the problem with staff and was ultimately given a ballot for the correct electorate.

But the Electoral Commission said, to ensure confidence in the process, his vote was also withdrawn and he was given the chance to cast a new ballot

The ECSA said there has been a significant increase in the number of people voting early in this election.

"As of Wednesday evening, 44,438 individuals had voted early at pre-polling locations around South Australia. This compares with 8,828 early votes at the same time in the 2018 State Election," it said in a statement.

More people have applied to do a postal vote, with the commission receiving 140,000 applications already, which is 35,000 more than the total number of postal votes in 2018.

The electoral commission said the problem was only at Christies Beach and no other location was affected.

A record number of people are voting early in this year's election.  (ABC News: Lincoln Rothall )

The member for Kaurna, which includes Christies Beach, Chris Picton, said he was glad Mr Van den Heuvel had raised his concerns about the voting centre.

"This is clearly so precious, your individual vote, that it's really important people be careful," he said.

"If there is an issue to alert the authorities so it can be addressed."

Any voter who has concerns about their enrolment or the pre-poll process can raise them at the polling centre or on the Electoral Commission helpline on 1300 655 232.