Ahead of the Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum on 14 October, many Australians who can’t access physical voting booths can apply for postal votes to be sent to them and returned with a Yes or No written on the ballot.
But applications for postal voting are not open yet because a writ has not been issued.
The deadline for the writ to be issued is 11 September and the latest postal voting applications can open is at 6pm that day.
A writ is essentially a legal document issued on behalf of a sovereign or government, compelling the recipient to do something.
The writ will compel the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) to hold a referendum and kick-start some of the AEC’s processes.
The AEC cannot begin the postal voting process until the writ has been legally issued by Governor-General David Hurley.
Postal vote applications will close at 6pm on Wednesday 11 October, ahead of the referendum on 14 October.
Voting in the referendum is compulsory and failure to do so may result in fines.
Postal voting is one of the options, in addition to voting in person or using a phone voting system for the visually impaired.
Individuals need to submit applications to the AEC, either online or by filling in a paper form and returning it to an AEC office.
There are two types of postal voters: general postal voters, who are signed up to postal voting for every referendum or federal election, and single postal voters, who are doing it as a one-off.
If you’re not enrolled, you can do so via the AEC’s website or by submitting a paper form. If you are enrolled, the AEC is encouraging you to check that your details are up to date.
Who can apply for postal votes?
General postal voters can be categorised as:
- People with physical disabilities or health issues that prevent them from visiting a polling booth.
- People who live more than 20km from a polling booth.
- Those serving prison sentences of under three years.
- People who are unable to attend polling booths due to religious beliefs.
- Those serving in the defence forces, or as Australian Police Force officers or silent electors.
There is a lower threshold to apply for single postal voters and it is more common.
These go to people who are outside their electorate, more than 8km from a polling booth, unable to be absent from work to vote, who are travelling, are due to give birth, are a patient in a hospital, or have a reasonable fear for their safety.
(SBS)
