No voter claims he was abused by Yes campaigners at Indigenous Voice polling booth in Rockhampton

An Aboriginal man who went to vote early in the Voice referendum claimed he was humiliated by Yes campaigners in front of his wife and daughter. 

Shane said his family travelled to a polling booth at Rockhampton, in Central Queensland, but was scared away by campaigners on Tuesday.

‘I went to vote early and as I’m going to the voting place, I was abused because I took a pamphlet from the No vote and I didn’t take a pamphlet from the Yes vote,’ he told Brisbane 4BC host Sofie Formica.

‘I left in disgust and so did my wife and my daughter.’

Formica felt sorry for the grandfather and said: ‘The one thing about living in a democracy is we all reserve the right to have that vote and to vote the way we choose.’

Shane continued: ‘The part that a lot of people don’t understand is – the people at the voting booth today said I’m a racist. I’m also an Aboriginal.

‘My wife is Aboriginal, my family is Aboriginal. We are proud Aboriginal Australians and I’m called a racist.

‘I’m disgusted, I feel now like crying.

‘I’m just sick of this country. I’m sick of the way we’re being divided. I’m sick of the way it’s going to be for my grandkids and my kids to come after that.’

Shane’s experience comes as the behaviour of some campaigners is placed under scrutiny. 

Two weeks ago, more than 1,000 No supporters visited the Adelaide Convention Centre to hear Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and other No campaigners speak at the Fair Australia rally.

But the event was gatecrashed by Yes campaigners who called attendees ‘racist’.

Liberal senator Alex Antic filmed a crowd of protesters who screamed at him as he walked into the event.

‘F**k you, you racist dog!,’ one shouted.

‘Racist pig!,’ screamed another. ‘Crazy w****rs!’

Several Yes campaigners were also seen holding up banners with messages including ‘No pride in genocide’ and ‘Always was, always will be’. 

Mr Antic wrote alongside the clip: ‘Is this the “unity” the Australian Labor Party promised us their referendum was going to bring?’

Earlier this week the Australian Electoral Commission reprimanded Yes campaigners for using signs (above) similar to its official ‘Voting Centre’ signs

Even the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) had to scold Yes campaigners for using signs that looked like official AEC instructions.

Early voting in the Northern Territory, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia opened Monday while other states and territories were delayed until Tuesday due to the Labour Day public holiday.

A photo from outside the Mildura Senior Citizens Club in northwest Victoria shows a purple AEC sign wedged between two similar ‘Vote Yes’ signs.

The move was slammed as a dirty trick designed to confuse voters.

In a statement on Monday, the AEC revealed it had asked the Yes23 campaign to remove the signs which ‘could potentially misled voters about the source of a campaign message’.

‘This combination of using purple and white colours in proximity to AEC signage could mislead a voter about the source of the signage, and by extension, the source of the message on the signage,’ the statement said.

‘Accordingly, when we were alerted to this signage the AEC requested the Yes23 campaign to rectify the situation by ensuring their signs are not placed within the proximity of AEC voting centre signs.’

Several No voters have reported run-ins with Yes campaigners since early voting for the referendum opened earlier this week

With the official polling day just a little over a week away on October 14, polls show support for the Voice is still below 50 per cent.

Newspoll found support for the Voice had plummeted to just 36 per cent while Resolve found only 43 per cent of Australians plan to vote Yes. 

For the full list of early voting centre locations, opening days and hours, visit the AEC website.