2 September 2004

ENROLMENT FACTS AND FIGURES

• The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) introduced a new 'online enrolment verification' service for electors to confirm their enrolment over the internet on 5 July 2004 . Electors simply access the AEC website - provide the exact name they are enrolled for and the town or suburb they're enrolled at, and the web service will confirm the enrolment.
• Enrolment forms have to be received by the AEC by 8.00pm sharp on Tuesday September 7.
• AEC enrolment surveys and an independent ANAO report show that 95% of the overall eligible population is correctly enrolled.
• At the issue of the writs for the 2004 election (Tuesday 31 August 2004 ) there were 12,871,780 Australians on the Commonwealth electoral roll.
• It is expected by the close of rolls for the 2004 election that the number of Australians on the electoral roll will exceed 13 million.
  During the 2001 federal election
• The AEC processed 369,966 enrolment forms and 19,866 deletions from the rolls during close of rolls week in 2001. 83,027 were new enrolments including approximately 70% of the new enrolments from 18 and 19 year olds.
• At the close of rolls for the 2001 election, 12,636,631 Australian electors were enrolled.

NOMINATIONS FACTS AND FIGURES

• The nomination deposit per candidate for the House of Representatives is $350 at the 2004 election (the same as at the 2001 and 1998 election). The deposit increased from $250 following legislative changes after the 1996 election.
• The nomination deposit per candidate for the Senate is $700 at the 2004 election (the same as at the 2001 and 1998 election). The deposit increased from $500 following legislative changes after the 1996 election.
• At the 2004 election, the deposit will be refunded if the candidate receives 4% or more of the formal first preference vote (same as at 2001 election), or is in a Senate group which receives 4% or more

COST OF ELECTION FIGURES

• The cost of the 2004 election is estimated to be about $75 million - GST exclusive .
• Public funding for the 2004 election is $1.94 (194.397 cents) per vote for candidates who achieve at least 4% of the formal first preference vote.

POLLING LOGISTICS

For the 2004 federal election it is expected that:

• there will be 7,732 polling places in Australia
• there will be 300 pre-poll voting centres
• 100 overseas posts will provide voting facilities
• there will be 510 mobile teams:
  
  445 mobile teams visiting 2090 special hospitals
  48 remote mobile teams visiting 128 remote locations
  17 mobile teams visiting 22 prisons
• ballot boxes produced:* 45,500
• voting screens produced:* 155,800
• recycling bins produced:* 13,900
  (*these figures include items recovered for re-use after the 2001 election and weigh 140 tonnes overall)
• elector leaflets to be delivered to over 7.5 million households
• approximately 67,000 temporary staff to be employed
• approximately 400 call centre operators trained, with approximately 250 working at peak times.

OTHER KEY ELECTION FACTS

• A redeveloped Virtual Tally Room will provide an enhanced service in distributing the results for the 2004 election via the internet.
• Trials to reduce informal voting in the divisions of Western Sydney and the Division of Port Adelaide are being undertaken. In Port Adelaide translated information will be mailed to over 10,000 electors, and in the NSW divisions NESB community intermediaries will be used to spread the voting message.
• Ballot paper production will use a mix of the newer security screen paper (cheaper) and the traditional 'crown' watermarked paper.
• AEC voting information and advertising will be translated into 18 NESB languages and up to 30 indigenous languages.
• Voting information will be produced and distributed in Braille, large print, audio cassette and audio file formats, and candidate information will be available in audio file and large print. This is to meet the needs of electors who cannot read standard print.
• Recycling of 'how to vote cards will be encouraged with large recycling bins placed outside polling places at all metropolitan and major regional centres.
• The AEC's election call centre is being hosted by Centrelink's established call centre network in 7 sites. Operating hours are 8am to 8pm , 7 days a week, and on election day 7am to 9pm . Over 500 different scripts of election information have been produced to answer elector enquiries.
• The AEC will be again conducting its popular International Visitors Program. In 2001, 61 electoral officials from 19 countries participated. For the 2004 election, there will be 60 places, and already 29 countries have expressed interest in participating.

Further information:

Brien Hallett
Assistant Commissioner
Public Awareness, Media and Research
Ph. (02) 6271 4477
Mobile : 0413 274 798

Phil Diak
Director,
Media and Communication
Ph. (02) 6271 4415
Mobile : 0413 452 539