Nearly 12m gay marriage votes returned

Three out of four eligible Australians have so far voted in the postal survey on same-sex marriage.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics has received an estimated 11.9 million (74.5 per cent) survey forms.

With form scanning now well under way, the estimate is based on a count of forms scanned rather than earlier estimates that were based on the weight of the bulk containers of returned forms waiting to be scanned.