Ballarat has voted no to the Voice referendum, with almost 60 per cent of votes counted on Saturday evening, voting down the constitutional change.
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The no-vote was decided by 7.30pm, with the majority of votes needed to support the no vote. All six Australian states had rejected the proposal.
Ballarat recorded 58.57 per cent of no votes and 41.43 per cent of yes votes.
Earlier on Saturday, despite large numbers of people casting early or postal votes, there was still a consistent stream of people attending most polling locations.
After casting their ballots, multiple people told The Courier how they voted, and what had contributed to their decision.
North Ballarat resident Fiona Griffith, 60, said she voted Yes because Indigenous Australians needed recognition, agency and to be listened to.
"I think for our country to mature we need to sit down and we need to listen," she said.
"To me this is our country coming into itself, and it's incredibly, incredibly important for our identities as Australians and for Australia."
Ms Griffith said the understanding of Indigenous Australians and their experiences had grown over her lifetime.
She said awareness of issues such as the frontier wars and the stolen generation were now common, but was critical of some of the political tactics used during the referendum.
"With this referendum we've had Trump style politics coming into it, and that makes me incredibly sad," she said.
At Mount Rowan Primary School, Diane, who did not provide her surname, said she voted No as there were already ways for people to have their opinions heard in Australian society, and she thought a Voice to Parliament would be discriminatory.
"I think we're all meant to be one people, we're all meant to be Australians, there shouldn't be any difference between whether you're Aboriginal or whether you're white Australian," she said.
"If you come to Australia you adopt the Australian way of life, and we're all meant to be equal."
Julie Taylor, who cast her vote in Alfredton, supported the Yes campaign because she wanted to help Indigenous Australians.
She said she didn't believe a voice to parliament would harm non-Indigenous people, but she hoped it would at least have "a tiny little streamlined affect" for Aboriginal people.
"This is just a tiny, tiny administrative effort, but they [Indigenous Australians] need to be helped," she said.
Bacchus Marsh man Sam Cole, 28, voted in his first referendum when he casted his ballot at Black Hill Primary School on Saturday morning.
For Mr Cole, it was important to vote Yes to show politicians people are interested in supporting Indigenous Australians.
He said he was worried about the message a No vote would send, but wasn't confident in how the referendum would be decided.
"It seems a bit mixed [how people are voting], I hope lots of people vote Yes, but it seems a bit of a mixture," he said.
Multiple other people also told The Courier they had voted No.
In addition to voters, it was also a busy day for campaigners as they handed out leaflets at the city's polling booths.
Peter, who did not provide his surname, was handing out fliers for the No campaign in Alfredton.
He said it was important to support the No vote as it could cause problems in the future.
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"I support no because once something is put into the constitution it can't be changed," he said.
At Ballarat North Primary School young volunteers Trillian Sharples and Bindi Phillips were handing out Yes fliers while dancing to stay warm on a chilly Ballarat morning.
Ms Phillips said as well as keeping them warm, the dancing was a way to encourage people that a Yes vote was positive.
Ms Sharples said they were also trying to combat misinformation, so people were fully informed before casting their vote.
"We want everyone to understand the importance of a Yes vote, and why we need to do this for our country," Ms Phillips said.
"We're trying to stay positive, [which is] one of the other reasons for the dancing, and we're hoping Australians will be generous and vote Yes."
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