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;
  • 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.

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