Voice to Parliament 'yes' campaigner Thomas Mayo not taking ACT vote for granted

As the hoary old chestnut goes, the ACT is not a state, so it misses out on having its collective result go towards the state tally when it needs a majority of voters in at least four out of six states.

Make no mistake, with the Prime Minister poised to announce the referendum date as October 14, the "yes" and "no" camps still desperately need capital votes for the other majority required: for the overall count.

"We're certainly not taking the ACT for granted. We know it's a very important place," Yes23 figure Thomas Mayo told The Canberra Times on Tuesday.

"It's the political heart of the nation, where Uluru was very much the spiritual heart of the nation where this call came from that historic convention."

That's not lip service. With voter intention polling tight and likely two months to go in the campaign, it is all looking uncertain.

"We can be 100,000 in the black on our ACT vote. If we can add 100,000 votes to the pile on the "yes" side. That could be the difference. It might be close," ACT Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, Rachel Stephen-Smith said.

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The "no" side has been more focused on the states it believes it can turn, such as Queensland, Western Australia, South Australian, and Tasmania. It is easy to see this in the "no" social media spend. It needs four states, plus an overall majority of Australian votes to swing this.

While not without significant support, it does not have the same financial and volunteer backing as the "yes" side. It also has growing confidence.

It has also been alienating Canberra voters by campaigning hard against a "Canberra Voice." A mislabel, that has hung around.

Still, the overall majority could still require ACT votes to clinch a "no" win as well.

The undecideds are now being sought. Polls are showing them between 10 and 40 per cent of the voting population and, whatever the number, they have not had a great reason to be engaged in the Voice conversation.

The announcement of the date, expected to be October 14, on Wednesday in Adelaide will focus people's minds and tighten the campaigning.

The Prime Minister's choice of date will give a six week campaign. A middle range as far as lengths of federal election campaigns go.

Mr Mayo is questioning the negative polling and claims momentum.

"I've just come from the Hunter region. I've done a tour of Central Queensland," he said. "It's the same feeling everywhere, people are curious. They take the information. There are more yeses than noes on the street."

Canberra has just passed 1000 Yes23 volunteers and the campaign wants more to spread the word in person and on the phone.

Ms Stephen-Smith is confident that ACT will return a majority vote for constitutional recognition through the Voice proposal.

She is hoping for some cross-border engagement.

"We know Canberrans are really excellent campaigners," the minister said. "Canberrans also have the opportunity to help in regional NSW to maybe get out and about up in the mountains or down the coast or in our surrounding region to have those conversations as well."

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