The use of pencils to complete ballot papers in the federal election continues to be the subject of some odd, incorrect assertions on this platform.

So, here is a thread about that subject. 🧵 The apparent theory is that polling officials rub out completed ballot papers to “rig the election”.

Given the security involved in the counting process, the level of transparency & the sheer number of people in election counts it is simply not feasible.

Multiple voting is an offence. Real-time roll mark off occurs at all pre-poll centres & many polling day booths. All declaration votes are also subject to strict roll checks.

Multiple marks against hardcopy lists are identified every event & very rare.🧵

aec.gov.au/About_AEC/Publ… Every early voting centre open now has what are called electronic certified lists - these laptops provide for real-time mark off on the electoral roll.

This carries through to many polling places on the day as well.

Wurrumiyanga is one of many communities in the NT, & right across remote areas of Australia, where some of the first votes in the 2023 referendum have been cast – an activity that began on Monday and will continue for three weeks leading up to 14 October.

aec.gov.au/media/2023/09-…






More than 60 teams of 3-4 polling officials each are loading their 4WDs, helicopters, planes and - in some cases in the Torres Strait - helicopters and ferries to bring democracy to some of Australia’s smallest communities.

Today is the start of remote voter services for the referendum. AEC staff will be travelling by 4WDs, boats, helicopters & planes to visit hundreds of communities.

For the first time, we have centralised logistics in our Remote Operations Centre. The majority of remote services will be in the NT, WA, & QLD to deliver voting services in the hard-to-reach areas. This is a key part of the AEC's role in upholding Australia's proud democratic tradition of enabling participation.

We’re getting some questions about campaigning text messages being received today.

They’re legal, political parties don’t get phone numbers from AEC & the msg today does appear to have the required authorisation statement via the link in the msg.

Further info 👇 Neither the Electoral Act or Referendum Act prohibit the distribution of campaign text messages.

In addition, ACMA has previously advised that political parties are exempt from the Spam Act and Do Not Call Register Act.

Any changes would be a matter for parliament.

Need a postal vote for the Referendum?

A reminder that you can’t apply just yet (but will be able to soon). Also, we encourage you to apply through the AEC directly.

More info ⬇️ Under referendum laws, we can only open postal vote applications once a writ has been issued (the formal instruction to run the referendum).

For a 14 Oct referendum the writ must be issued no later than Mon 11 Sept. So, at the very latest, applications will open at 6pm on Mon.

In around a month’s time, the Electoral Commissioner will use population data from @ABSStats to then calculate the number of @AboutTheHouse seats each state & territory is entitled to.

How does it work? 🧵 There are currently 151 members of @AboutTheHouse but that total number can change.

Each electoral cycle a fresh calculation is done. The number of seats for each state & territory reflects the latest published population data.

2023 has begun with further commentary about a federal referendum.

It’s mostly about the topic of course which is not our area! However, given it’s been a while we thought it’d be helpful to share info here on the Referendum process & state of play.🧵

There have been 44 referendums held in Australia’s history but it’s been a while…

Previous referendums: aec.gov.au/Elections/refe…

Today is International Day of #Democracy!
We’re celebrating the people behind the operation in 2022 - the 105,000 temporary employees & our permanent AEC team. Together, we held a national election with a variety of voting options including 500+ early voting centres, 7,000+ polling places as well as postal voting, telephone voting & remote voting.

Good morning Australia. We'll be determining final Senate results for the ACT and NT today. But how does this actually work? Read on... The Senate count is one of the most complex upper house counts in the world - it's so complex that we needed to write a program to distribute your preferences, as doing it by hand would mean we couldn't provide elected Senators in time to take their seat.

It's getting close to election day & we're getting a lot of questions from COVID+ voters.

Here's some answers. 🧵 People who tested positive to COVID after 6pm on Tuesday (& haven’t voted yet) are eligible for a telephone vote. See aec.gov.au/election/covid…

COVID+? Apply for a postal vote

2.5 million postal vote applications have been received (⬆️from 1.5m in 2019)

"If it’s close, this level of postal votes makes an election night indication of who forms government less likely.”

Media release: aec.gov.au/media/2022/05-…

#ausvotes “We simply cannot count postal votes on election night - we’re already at the limits of our staffing capacity, and work health and safety responsibilities, with the count of election day and pre-poll votes”

- Electoral Commissioner, Tom Rogers.

We’ve had a lot of questions about accessibility for flood-affected voters in Lismore and the Northern Rivers. These are fair questions and we take accessibility for all voters seriously. 🧵 below for our answers.

#auspol #ausvotes2022 First, we’re on the ground. AEC staff, including our senior managers, have visited the area and divisional teams are working locally to provide voting services to the community.