• Electoral rolls
• Ballot papers
• Methods of voting
• How-to-vote cards
• Electoral advertising

Part XV, ‘Postal voting’
Part XVI, ‘The polling’
Part XVA, ‘Pre-poll voting’
Part XXI, ‘Electoral offences’
Schedule 2, ‘Grounds of application for postal or pre-poll vote’

Voting is compulsory in Australian federal elections, and the AEC puts a great deal of effort into ensuring every qualified elector has the opportunity to vote. This also clearly benefits candidates, as well as Australian democracy in general, by ensuring a maximum turnout of voters at any election. Some candidates take special measures to offer assistance to eligible people in applying for postal or early voting.

As a candidate, you will no doubt be interested in all aspects of the voting process, including the different types of votes that can be cast (there have been changes, for example, to the law relating to provisional voting) and the various issues involved in the management of polling during an election. This chapter discusses these matters in depth.

Electoral rolls

Before polling begins, each officer-in-charge at a polling place is supplied with a copy of the certified list of voters for the division in which the polling place is located. The certified list is used in issuing ordinary votes to electors enrolled for that division.

see Absent votingApart from provisional voters, only people whose names are on the certified list are entitled to vote at a federal election, whether they do so by casting an ordinary or absent vote on election day, or a postal or early vote before election day.

Ballot papers

see Sample AEC election advertisingAn elector is issued with a separate ballot paper for each election they will be voting for on that day. They are given a white ballot paper for the Senate election and a green ballot paper for the House of Representatives election.

Methods of voting

Ordinary voting

An ordinary vote is a vote recorded by an elector on election day at a polling place gazetted for the division for which they are enrolled. This is the simplest way to vote and the method used by the majority of electors.

Declaration voting

Declaration votes include absent votes, provisional votes, postal votes and early (pre-poll) votes. An elector who votes under one of these categories must fill in an envelope. They make their signed declaration on the envelope and then put their completed ballot papers inside.

Absent voting

An elector who is away from the division for which they are enrolled but still within the same state or territory may, upon making a declaration, vote on election day as an absent voter at any other polling place in that state or territory.

Provisional voting

Eligibility

An elector may be issued with a provisional vote if:

 

• The Act, s. 235(1)(a) their name cannot be found on the certified list of voters for the division; or
• The Act, s. 235(1)(b) their name is on the certified list of voters but their address does not appear on the list (these may be silent electors who for reasons of personal or family safety do not have their address shown); or
• The officer-in-charge has asked the person one or more questions under subsection 229(4) about matters shown on the certified list of voters for a particular person to establish whether the person is that particular person and one of the following applies:
  • The Act, s. 235(1)(c)(i) their answers do not accord with the relevant information shown for that particular person on the list;
  • The Act, s. 235(1)(c)(ii) their answers accord with the relevant information shown for that particular person on the list but the officer is not satisfied that the person is that particular person;
• The Act, s. 235(1)(c)(iii) they refused to answer fully; or
• The Act, s. 235(1)(d) their name has been marked on the certified list of voters as having already voted at the polling place (and the voter claims not to have voted before); or
• The Act, s. 235(1)(e) the person is provisionally enrolled.

Completion and return

The Act, s. 235

The following procedures apply to provisional voting:

• the provisional voter must answer in writing the questions put to any ordinary voter (with the exception that an elector with their address suppressed from the electoral roll is not required to publicly disclose their address); and
• the provisional voter must sign a declaration on an envelope provided for the purpose, in the presence of the officer, who must sign as witness to the declaration, adding the date; and
• the officer must give the voter a written statement explaining provisional voting and the procedures followed; and
• on receipt of the ballot paper for each election, a vote is cast in the ordinary manner; and
• the provisional voter returns the folded ballot papers to the polling official who then places them in the signed and witnessed declaration envelope, seals it and puts it in the ballot box for later dispatch to the DRO; and
• the provisional voter provides evidence of their identity as required by section 235(1B) of the Act and Regulation 39B of the Electoral and Referendum Regulations 1940 (the Regulations).

Proof of identity

The Regulations, r. 39B

The Regulations provide that a person may cast a provisional vote on election day if:

• at the time the provisional vote is cast, the person shows to an officer:
  • an original of their driver’s licence; or
  • an original document of a kind set out in Schedule 3 to the Regulations; or
• by close of business on the first Friday following election day, the person provides to an officer:
• an original or attested copy of their driver’s licence; or
• an original or attested copy of a document of a kind set out in Schedule 3 to the Regulations.

Postal voting

Eligibility

The Act, s. 183 and Schedule 2

The Act provides in substance that an elector is entitled to apply for a postal vote if:

• throughout the hours of polling on election day, the elector will be absent from the state or territory for which the elector is enrolled;
• the elector will not, at any time during the hours of polling on election day, be within eight kilometres by the nearest practicable route of any polling place in the state or territory for which the elector is enrolled;
• throughout the hours of polling on election day, the elector will be travelling under conditions that will prevent the elector attending a polling place in the state or territory for which the elector is enrolled;
• the elector will be unable to attend a polling place on election day because of:
  • serious illness,
  • infirmity, or
  • approaching childbirth;
• on election day, the elector will be unable to attend a polling place because the elector will be at a place (other than a hospital) caring for a person who is seriously ill or infirm or who is expected shortly to give birth;
• throughout the hours of polling on election day, the elector will be a patient at a hospital (other than a gazetted hospital) and unable to vote at the hospital;
• throughout the hours of polling on election day, the elector will be a patient in a gazetted hospital but will be unable to have their vote taken by a mobile polling team;
• because of the elector’s religious beliefs or membership of a religious order, the elector:
  • is precluded from attending a polling place, or
  • for the greater part of the hours of polling on election day, is precluded from attending a polling place;
• see Prison and remand centre voting on election day, the elector will be in prison or otherwise under detention (note that not all people in prison or detention are eligible to vote);

• the elector’s address has been excluded from the roll (silent elector);
• throughout the hours of polling on election day, the elector will be engaged in their employment or occupation and:
  • if the elector is an employee, the elector is not entitled to leave of absence, and
  • in any other case, the absence of the elector for the purpose of attending a polling place to vote would be likely to cause loss to the person in their occupation.

Application

The Act, s. 184

An application for a postal vote must:

• contain a declaration by the applicant that they are an elector entitled to apply for a postal vote;
• be signed by the applicant in the presence of an authorised witness (details are set out on the application form). In Australia, electors are authorised witnesses. When overseas, an Australian citizen can be an authorised witness and certain other categories of people may also be authorised witnesses. A candidate is not permitted to be an authorised witness. If an elector is unable to find a witness overseas, they may instead provide a statement as to why they were unable to meet the witnessing requirements and a certified copy of the parts of their current passport, showing country and date of issue, number of passport, date of birth, signature and photo;
• be made after the issue of the writ for the election or the public announcement of the day of the election, whichever is the earlier, and before 6 pm on the Thursday before election day;
• be made to a DRO if made in Australia, or to the DRO or overseas Assistant Returning Officer if made outside Australia.

Completion and return

The Act, s. 194

On receipt of the postal vote material, which comprises a postal vote certificate and postal ballot paper, the elector must:

• show the unmarked ballot paper for each election and unsigned postal vote certificate to an authorised witness; and
• sign the postal vote certificate in the presence of the authorised witness; and
• have the authorised witness sign and date the postal vote certificate; and
• cast a vote in the presence of the authorised witness, but so that the authorised witness cannot see the vote; and
• immediately enclose the postal ballot papers in the envelope, and post or deliver the sealed envelope to the appropriate DRO.

The envelope containing ballot papers should be posted before election day, but can be delivered to any DRO, overseas Assistant Returning Officer or early voting officer, or to any polling place on election day before the close of the poll, or be handed, before the close of the poll, to a person who is at a capital city office of the AEC and who is:

• the Electoral Commissioner, Deputy Electoral Commissioner or AEO; or
• a person employed under Division 4 of Part II of the Act; or
• a member of the staff of the AEC who is engaged under the Public Service Act 1999 as an ongoing Australian Public Service employee; or
• employed under section 35(1)(b) of the Act

to ensure it is received by the appropriate DRO before the cut-off point for counting ballot papers, which is 13 days after election day.

Postal voting arrangements and deadlines

New legislation has been passed:

• requiring that for postal vote applications received up to and including 6 pm on the Friday eight days before election day, the AEC is to dispatch postal voting material to the applicant by post or other appropriate (non-electronic) means. For applications received in this period, the applicant may also raise with the AEC another means of delivery (non-electronic). If these means are reasonable and practicable, the AEC is required to dispatch the postal voting material by those means;
• requiring the AEC to dispatch postal voting material by the most reasonable and practicable means for applications received after 6 pm on the Friday eight days before election day and up to and including 6 pm on the Thursday before election day;
• providing that the AEC will not be required to post or deliver postal vote material to those electors whose applications for postal votes were received after 6 pm on the Thursday prior to election day; and
• expanding the range of AEC officers who can, in certain circumstances, receive completed postal vote envelopes to include ongoing employees at the AEC’s capital city offices, electoral visitors and mobile polling team leaders.

Registered general postal voters

Electors who are registered general postal voters will automatically be sent a postal vote certificate and postal ballot papers as soon as they become available after an election is called. As ballot papers cannot be printed until after nominations have been finalised, there is at least a two-week period after the issue of the writs before ballot papers can be distributed.

New arrangements for registration as a general postal voter

An elector may also apply to be registered as a general postal voter if one of the grounds specified in section 184A of the Act apply. Since the last federal election in 2004, the grounds upon which an elector may make an application for registration as a general postal voter have been expanded to include:

• defence members or defence civilians who are serving outside Australia;
• Australian Federal Police officers or staff members who are serving outside Australia; and
• eligible overseas electors.

Early voting

An elector may apply for an early vote on any of the grounds applicable to postal voting. If the application is accepted, the elector votes before election day at an early voting centre or an AEC divisional office.

On election day some early voting centres become interstate voting centres for electors from interstate only.

Voting at mobile polling places

Hospital voting

Electoral visitors attend gazetted hospitals and institutions (such as nursing homes) to provide mobile polling services to enable patients and residents to cast their votes. At other hospitals and similar institutions at which there are appointed polling places, the officer-in-charge and a polling official take voting material and equipment to all rooms or wards where there are patients who are eligible voters and who wish to vote at the hospital, and take their votes in person.

Electors who are patients (excluding out-patients) at hospitals, nursing homes or similar institutions at which mobile polling facilities are not provided may apply for a postal vote. Patients at polling place hospitals and gazetted hospitals who will not be able to vote on election day or when the electoral visitors call are also entitled to a postal vote.

Prison and remand centre voting

The Act, ss. 93(1), 4(1A) and 93(8AA)

A prisoner who is serving a sentence of three years or longer is not entitled to enrol or vote.

The AEC may make arrangements with prison and remand centre authorities for electoral visitors to take voting material and equipment to prisons and remand centres for the purpose of taking the votes of those people in detention who are eligible to vote. Electors in detention who will not be able to vote through a mobile team are entitled to a postal vote.

Remote division voting

Electors living in remote areas of a division declared to be a remote division may be visited by mobile polling teams.

The AEC determines and publicises the places, days and times of visits, which may commence up to 12 days before election day and conclude on election day.

Electronic voting

The AEC is trialling two electronic voting systems at this federal election. The first trial caters for electors who are blind or have low vision and involves electronic voting machines at 29 early voting locations around Australia. The second trial provides for defence personnel in four locations overseas to vote using the Department of Defence’s secure intranet.

Assisted voting

Voting inside the polling place

Assisted voting is available at all polling places including hospitals, prisons and remand centres, and remote areas visited by mobile polling teams.

The officer-in-charge may permit any voter who is blind or has low vision, is physically incapacitated or has low literacy skills to be accompanied by a person appointed by the voter so that the person can mark, fold and deposit the voter’s ballot paper in the ballot box on behalf of the voter.

Where no such person is appointed, the officer-in-charge may perform this role in the presence of scrutineers or, if no scrutineers are present, in the presence of a polling official or another person appointed by the voter.

Voting outside the polling place

If the officer-in-charge is satisfied that an elector is unable to enter the polling place because of physical disability, illness, advanced pregnancy or other conditions, they may allow the elector to vote outside in close proximity to the polling place.

How-to-vote cards

Party workers may assist electors by handing them how-to-vote cards and, if necessary, explaining the card to them. Party workers are reminded that it is an offence to print, publish or distribute misleading or deceptive statements relating to the actual marking of a ballot paper. How-to-vote cards must carry the name and full street address of the authoriser, and the name and place of business of the printer.

Voters who are blind or have low vision may benefit from materials produced in alternate formats.

How-to-vote cards produced for electors by political parties and candidates need to have clear instructions and be designed well so that they assist electors to cast a formal vote. Otherwise how-to-vote information may confuse some voters and cause them to cast an informal vote without meaning to do so.

Around 70 per cent of all informal votes could be considered to be unintentional. These include ‘Number 1’ only, ticks and crosses, incomplete preferences and non-sequential numbering.

The AEC has identified a range of factors to account for the increase in informal voting in House of Representatives elections from 2001 to 2004.

• An increase in the number of candidates on the ballot paper, or a high number of candidates, is a strong predictor of high levels of informality.
• Divisions in Queensland and New South Wales are more at risk of informal voting, as full preferential voting is optional at state elections. Ballots that are informal because the elector has marked ‘Number 1’ only or are ‘non-sequential’ make up almost 50 per cent of overall informality in all states and territories.
• Electorates where voters have low levels of English proficiency and where high percentages of voters speak a language other than English are at an increased risk of high levels of informal voting.

For more about the findings of the AEC’s research into informal voting, visit www.aec.gov.au.

How-to-vote cards for electors in remote areas, prisons and remand centres may be supplied by party workers to the leader of a mobile polling team. It is not the responsibility of the team leader to arrange for this, or to remind party workers to do so. In prisons and remand centres, electoral visitors will provide the electoral material to electors at their request.

Electoral material, including how-to-vote cards, may be supplied to the general office of hospitals where mobile polling will take place.

An officer-in-charge or electoral visitor who visits an elector in hospital must advise the elector what electoral material, including how-to-vote cards, is available and give any of the material to the elector at their request.

Electoral advertising

Electoral Backgrounder No. 15, ‘Electoral Advertising’, provides a basic introduction to electoral advertising. It is available from the AEC website at www.aec.gov.au. Its contents are a guide only. Individual matters are assessed on a case-by-case basis and ultimately it is for the courts to decide upon the interpretation of the law in any particular case. Accordingly, if you are in doubt about the interpretation of the law in particular circumstances, you should seek your own independent legal advice.

Electoral Backgrounder No. 15, ‘Electoral Advertising’, discusses:

• intent of the law;
• authorisation of electoral advertising;
• headings to electoral advertisements;
• electoral advertising on the Internet;
• misleading and deceptive electoral advertisements;
• second preference how-to-vote cards;
• truth in political advertising;
• defamation of candidates;
• electronic media blackout;
• political advertising bans;
• non-compliance—electoral advertising offences; and
• complaints.

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