Residents in the mountain town and villages such as Jingellic and Khancoban will be casting ballots in a by-election for the federal division of Eden-Monaro.

Being a marginal seat, rivalry is fierce with letterboxes stuffed with flyers making promises or fear-mongering.

However, that fervour is not matched by the wide community which endured a scarring bushfire season and then a pandemic lockdown.

Real estate agent and chamber of commerce executive member Julie Giddings says there's an air of ho-hum about the vote.

"To me it seems a non-election, there's been that many posts on Facebook saying 'tell me who to vote for' and 'who's who with the election?'," she said.

Eden-Monaro surrounds the ACT, taking in towns such as Yass, Cooma and Queanbeyan as well as the NSW coast from Bodalla to the Victorian border.

Despite both the coast and Tumbarumba areas having suffered from bushfires, Ms Giddings believes there is still a disconnect.

"The whole time the fires were on we were hearing about the south coast, we didn't get mentioned," she said.

"If you look at the properties per capita Snowy Valleys Council lost more properties than any other local government area but you wouldn't know that if looked at the reporting.

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"We tend to be forgotten here sometimes."

Bruce Wright, the only Tumbarumba councillor on Snowy Valleys, expressed a similar sentiment.

"They (Labor and Liberal candidates) come from the coast and what are they going to care about us at the end of the day," Cr Wright said.

"We're always on the fringe."

Tumbarumba has been previously in Riverina and Farrer areas federally and is in the Albury state seat.

Ms Giddings said the biggest issue in the area remained the amalgamation of the former Tumbarumba Shire into Snowy Valleys and the desire to demerge, even though it is a state government matter.

"Whoever's in favour of a demerger will probably get the votes," she said.

Underlining that point council worker Barry Lecerf said the "right person" to win the poll would be "somebody that's for the demerger".

As for COVID-19, Ms Giddings said that prompted her to postal vote rather than head to a polling booth on Saturday.

"I didn't know how the coronavirus was going to go and I thought there could be a big line-up because they're only allowed a certain amount in at one time," she said.