The NSW Electoral Commission said all staffing positions for Saturday's election were filled after reports of long queues at booths across Newcastle.
The Newcastle Herald visited multiple booths on election day where party volunteers reported huge lines of people waiting to vote.
In places like New Lambton South Public School, this was compounded by the booth being open to voters in all four wards.
A NSW Electoral Commission spokesperson said all 378 staff positions allocated in Newcastle for polling places were filled.
"Some voters may have experienced queues in some polling places but this was not widespread," the spokesperson said.
The number of staff was down from 603 for the 2021 local government election, however the electoral commission employed additional staff to manage COVID-19 that year. The commission employed 316 staff in Newcastle for the 2017 council election.
Across NSW, in 2021 the commission ran 122 council elections for 4,838,137 electors and had 30,114 staff.
In 2024 it ran 125 council elections for 5,335,812 electors and had more than 20,000 staff.
"In 2021 the number of staff were significantly ramped up to manage an election during the COVID pandemic," the spokesperson said.
"Extra staff were hired to manage cleaning and social distancing."
