AEC Annual Report 2003-2004
Output 1.1.1 Electoral roll
The electoral roll is fundamental to conducting parliamentary elections. It is maintained on a computerised roll management system (RMANS) and is the key to voter entitlement at the federal, State, Territory and local government levels. It is also the basis for electoral redistributions.
Table 3 shows the AEC’s performance during the year against the indicators and targets set out in the 2003–04 Portfolio Budget Statements and Portfolio Additional Estimates Statements.
| Measure | Target | Results | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quality | Proportion of eligible people on the electoral roll | 95% | The results of the Sample Audit Fieldwork indicate that, at 1 March 2004, an estimated 95% of the eligible population was enrolled for the correct division. |
| Quantity | Number of enrolment transactions (other than deletions) processed each year | Minimum 2.3 million | 2,401,193 enrolment transactions were processed during 2003–04. |
| Speed at which enrolment forms are processed | Within three business days | This target was generally met, but enrolment transactions that require investigations to establish eligibility may take longer than three days to process. | |
| Price | Cost of entries on RMANS database | Under $2.75 per entry | Cost was below $2.75 per entry. |
Overview
AEC divisional staff continually process enrolment information and enter it into RMANS in order to ensure an accurate and up-to-date electoral roll. This includes information from newly eligible persons and from electors changing addresses, and deletions from the roll of electors who have left their enrolled addresses or died. Staff also process information received from CRU activities and elections, and collect and update address and electoral area boundary information contained on the RMANS address register.
At 30 June 2004, there were 12,961,467 electors on the roll—an increase of 142,728 electors from 2002–03. This increase is attributable to the activities of the AEC’s CRU program (see Output 1.1.2) and increased enrolment activity for local and State government elections conducted in New South Wales and Queensland, the Tasmanian Legislative Council elections and municipal elections in the Northern Territory. The estimated participation by those eligible in the 18–25-year age group was 79.6 per cent. The method used to calculate the participation rate has been refined. It projects the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) demographic estimates for 2003 forward to 2004, and adjustments are made for known factors such as deaths. If this new method of calculation had been used to calculate the participation rate for the 2002–03 annual report, the rate would have been 79.8 per cent instead of the reported 79 per cent.
Table 4 summarises enrolments by State or Territory and by year.
| 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NSW | 3,989,416 | 4,054,003 | 4,133,129 | 4,187,911 | 4,154,672 | 4,216,767 | 4,270,127 | 4,310,662 |
| Vic. | 3,018,089 | 3,015,405 | 3,106,115 | 3,153,514 | 3,199,570 | 3,253,105 | 3,265,797 | 3,283,191 |
| Qld | 2,110,149 | 2,144,981 | 2,183,729 | 2,241,387 | 2,326,846 | 2,353,278 | 2,369,873 | 2,441,694 |
| WA | 1,119,266 | 1,124,910 | 1,156,691 | 1,169,243 | 1,203,847 | 1,204,743 | 1,207,713 | 1,217,279 |
| SA | 1,006,034 | 989,884 | 1,018,589 | 1,030,970 | 1,024,112 | 1,052,739 | 1,044,802 | 1,039,531 |
| Tas. | 322,127 | 320,479 | 326,374 | 324,838 | 325,535 | 332,896 | 332,228 | 335,940 |
| ACT | 203,632 | 205,328 | 209,063 | 215,212 | 214,949 | 218,735 | 218,949 | 223,782 |
| NT | 104,151 | 104,648 | 106,101 | 107,776 | 105,611 | 109,717 | 109,250 | 109,388 |
| Total | 11,872,864 | 11,959,638 | 12,239,791 | 12,430,851 | 12,555,142 | 12,741,980 | 12,818,739 | 12,961,467 |
During the year divisional staff processed 2,401,193 enrolment forms and amendments, a 0.3 per cent increase from 2002–03. There were 551,683 additions to the roll, including 329,726 first time enrollees, 5,201 reinstatements and 216,756 re-enrolments. In addition, there were 738,218 transfers of enrolment between divisions and 1,111,292 address changes and other amendments to elector details. A total of 390,979 deletions were processed, including 104,854 deaths, 3,820 deletions of duplicate entries and 282,305 objection deletions, the majority being for electors who were no longer resident at their enrolled address and who had not enrolled at a new address.
As a result of the redistribution of federal electoral boundaries, 492,990 notification letters were sent to affected electors in Victoria, Queensland and South Australia. As well as informing electors about their new federal division, the letters sought information from the addressee to assist in the review of the electoral rolls. This activity resulted in 280,120 responses with 27,717 enrolments processed by divisional offices as at the end of June.
In their reports on the integrity of the roll, both the ANAO and the JSCEM recommended that the AEC develop performance indicators specific to enrolment. In July 2003, the Electoral Council of Australia agreed to a revised set of indicators. The AEC will be seeking approval to incorporate some of these in the Portfolio Budget Statements for the 2005–06 financial year. The AEC is unable to report on all of the revised performance indicators until the Enrolment Management Information System (EMIS) is implemented (a phased implementation is expected to commence in the 2005–06 financial year). In this report, however, we report informally on those that we are currently able to measure.
In line with recommendation 9 of the ANAO report and recommendation 9 of the JSCEM report, the AEC conducted a fieldwork audit (the ‘sample audit fieldwork’, or SAF) of a statistically valid sample of the electoral roll in February and March 2004 to measure the accuracy of the roll and the effectiveness of the CRU process. We sought advice from the ABS Consultancy Unit to ensure that the sample was statistically valid, and subsequently reviewed 227 census collection districts randomly selected from across Australia. It is intended that future sampling be done annually.
The results of the SAF are currently being analysed and, after further consultation with the ABS, a full report will be available later in 2004. The preliminary results of the SAF audit indicate that at 1 March 2004 an estimated 95 per cent of the eligible population was enrolled for the correct division. In previous years, the AEC has used Newspoll or comparisons with ABS demographic estimates to provide a figure for the percentage of eligible people on the electoral roll. Both these measurement methods have shortcomings. The SAF provides what we believe to be more robust evidence of the quality of the roll, and we will continue to work with the ABS to further refine the methodologies.
The SAF also gave us a way to measure the accuracy of the AEC’s address register. It showed that the register holds 96.9 per cent of actual enrollable addresses and that these are recorded with an accuracy level of 93 per cent.
In addition to using the SAF to measure the AEC’s performance, we interrogated RMANS and measured a number of other indicators. The results are given in Table 5.
| Measure | Target | Results | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quality | An accurate roll of qualified electors | 100% of electors are qualified at time of enrolment | Apart from the 59 electors deleted from the roll on non-citizenship grounds, the target was met. |
| Prevent and detect attempts at fraudulent enrolment | No fraudulent enrolments result from lack of, or failure to adhere to, AEC fraud control procedures | There were no prosecutions for enrolment fraud during the reporting period. | |
| Quantity | Accurate enrolment processing | More than 99.5% of enrolment transactions are correctly processed to critical fields and correctly matched to existing elector records where applicable | Target met: 99.8% |
| 100% of notified deaths are correctly matched and removed from the rolls within five business days | 91.2% | ||
The measure of the qualification of electors at the time of enrolment was the number of electors enrolled during the year who were subsequently deleted from the roll on the ground of non-citizenship (59 enrolments from the 2.4 million enrolment forms processed). These errors were detected through data checking in the divisions. Other measures of this performance indicator will be developed over the next year.
This year, we can report on two measures of the accuracy of enrolment processing. First, 99.8 per cent of enrolment transactions were correctly processed to critical fields and correctly matched to existing elector records, where applicable. This figure is understated because it includes amendments initiated by the AEC. Second, 100 per cent of notified elector deaths on the roll are matched and removed. However, only 91.2 per cent are removed within five days. Some of the delay is caused by difficulty in matching names of deceased electors. Further analysis will be undertaken in 2004–05, with a view to improving this performance.
Table 6 shows enrolment activity for 2003–04.
|
NSW |
Vic. |
Qld |
WA |
SA |
Tas. |
ACT |
NT |
Total |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Additions to the roll | |||||||||
| New enrolments | 96,644 | 85,733 | 75,293 | 30,666 | 23,727 | 8,001 | 6,800 | 2,862 | 329,726 |
| Reinstatements | 1,718 | 925 | 1,603 | 517 | 140 | 161 | 71 | 66 | 5,201 |
| Re-enrolments | 59,842 | 34,656 | 84,046 | 17,705 | 8,768 | 4,999 | 3,770 | 2,970 | 216,756 |
| Transfers into divisions | |||||||||
| Intrastate | 177,511 | 136,037 | 163,879 | 55,959 | 44,679 | 9,239 | 3,362 | 510 | 591,176 |
| Interstate | 31,867 | 24,064 | 48,505 | 9,759 | 10,069 | 7,391 | 9,113 | 6,274 | 147,042 |
| Intradivision amendment or movement | 261,247 | 194,787 | 253,156 | 82,090 | 72,622 | 30,889 | 18,390 | 12,260 | 925,441 |
| No change enrolment | 41,206 | 55,075 | 46,875 | 16,836 | 13,360 | 5,734 | 2,638 | 4,127 | 185,851 |
| Total enrolment forms processed | 670,035 | 531,277 | 673,357 | 213,532 | 173,365 | 66,414 | 44,144 | 29,069 | 2,401,193 |
| Deletion transactions | |||||||||
| Objections | 63,307 | 62,004 | 87,808 | 28,450 | 24,619 | 7,892 | 3,602 | 4,623 | 282,305 |
| Deaths | 36,105 | 25,599 | 19,081 | 8,821 | 10,060 | 3,399 | 1,225 | 564 | 104,854 |
| Duplications | 1,014 | 878 | 1,227 | 293 | 249 | 67 | 36 | 56 | 3,820 |
| Total deletions processed | 100,426 | 88,481 | 108,116 | 37,564 | 34,928 | 11,358 | 4,863 | 5,243 | 390,979 |
| Total elector transactions | 770,461 | 619,758 | 781,473 | 251,096 | 208,293 | 77,772 | 49,007 | 34,312 | 2,792,172 |
Note: National and State/Territory totals for enrolment activity are subject to minor statistical adjustment and will show minor differences from gazetted enrolment details.
Enrolment Management Information System
In accordance with recommendation 5 of ANAO Report No. 42 2001–02 and recommendation 10 of the JSCEM review of the ANAO report, the AEC has given a high priority to the development of the Enrolment Management Information System (EMIS).
The EMIS project will remedy current limitations in the AEC’s ability to:
- analyse its own performance managing the electoral roll
- monitor the implementation and impact of activities (such as CRU)
- identify better practice to help ensure cost-effective service delivery
- provide major stakeholders (such as the Parliament, Minister, JSCEM, State and Territory electoral authorities and ANAO) with timely and appropriate statistical information on the management of the roll.
Briefing sessions were held in a number of States, seeking the input of staff from head and divisional offices. Draft functional specifications have now been finalised and circulated for comment to the project’s steering committee and working party, and others as appropriate.
The AEC is working towards a phased implementation of EMIS, commencing in the 2005–06 financial year.
Enrolment fraud awareness
Responding to recommendation 11 of the ANAO report and recommendation 5 of the JSCEM review, the AEC has released the Electoral Fraud Control Plan. The plan covers fraud in elections, enrolment, and funding and disclosure.
Enrolment fraud awareness sessions have been held for divisional office staff across the country. It is intended that all staff responsible for processing enrolment forms will attend a session before the next federal election.
Proposed changes to performance indicators
ANAO recommendations 6 and 8 and JSCEM recommendations 1 and 2 related to the development of AEC performance indicators specific to enrolment. In July 2003, the Electoral Council of Australia agreed to a revised set of indicators.
The AEC reports informally on some of the revised indicators in this report, but will not be able to report on all of them until EMIS is implemented.
Enrolment target groups
The AEC and a number of universities are involved in several joint research projects that aim to identify barriers to enrolment and develop strategies to increase the number of eligible people on the roll. Identified target groups include youth, the homeless and groups in remote areas.
Youth Electoral Study
Work continued on the first stage of the Youth Electoral Study, which was launched in May 2003. This four-year longitudinal study is a joint project of the AEC and a research team from the University of Sydney and the Australian National University, and is partly funded by the Australian Research Council. The work involves interviews with groups of young people in 16 electoral divisions across Australia. Initial sessions were held in 2003 and follow-up interviews were conducted in 2004. This study will provide a range of data about young people’s attitudes to enrolment and voting, and help the AEC to better target public awareness and enrolment programs.
In addition, a national survey was developed and distributed nationally to 208 randomly selected cross-systemic schools covering approximately 5,000 Year 11 students. The release of initial findings is expected in 2004–05.
Analysis
While there were no changes to the nature of the functions and services delivered by Output 1.1.1, the AEC moved to increase efficiency further by implementing key recommendations of the ANAO and JSCEM reports for the Electoral Fraud Control Plan, for proposed new performance indicators, and for EMIS.
In 2004–05, the AEC’s joint research projects with universities and the long-term Youth Electoral Study will support the AEC’s continuing focus on the 18–25-year-old first-time elector.
