VOTERS from all across the state have been hit with fines, despite having cast their ballot in the recent local government elections.

In the Whitsundays, Corrie Gardner was one of those who received the unwelcome Apparent Failure to Vote Notice.

"I organised to postal vote and I rang the electoral commission weeks and weeks before the election because I wanted to make sure I did vote," she said.

Both Ms Gardner and her husband voted by post, however only Ms Gardner received a fine.

"Not only was I taken by surprise, but the whole tone of it was so guilty-until-proven-innocent," she said.

"Which is not how we function in this country."

This has left Ms Gardner wondering if her vote was even counted in the election.

"I wrote back to say 'I'm horrified to think that you've lost my vote'," she said.

"In the future maybe they should send you a receipt because how do you know, if you don't actually turn up in person, that your vote is actually counted?

"What if it was the federal election and you're talking about a place like Townsville and the difference is only a handful of votes?"

With Electoral Commission of Queensland assistant commissioner Dermot Tiernan saying "tens of thousands" of incorrect fines were issued at a cost of about $1 each, he expects the "costly error" could total up to $200,000.