There is still more than a week left of campaigning, but already Australians have been voting in their thousands since pre-polling opened this week.
If you've yet to to cast your vote, here's what you need to know:
Do I have to vote?
Short answer: yes.
Compulsory voting means every eligible Australian citizen — aged 18 years or older — is required by law to enrol and to vote if eligible to do so.
Australia is one of a small number of democratic countries that has compulsory voting.
And, remember, for many, voting hasn't always been a default right.
What if I draw on my ballot paper?
Feeling arty in the polling booth?
According to the Australian Electoral Commission's recent Twitter activity, there are a few Aussies who do, too.
Although, when it comes to certain drawings, they want you to know, it's not exactly original.
“Scribbling or drawing on your ballot paper risks making your vote informal, and makes life harder for our counting staff," an AEC spokesperson said.
While there is no blanket rule that invalidates doodled ballot papers, to ensure your vote is counted your choice of candidates must be clear.
“When counting ballots we will always err on the side of the voter's intent but, if the boxes are not clearly numbered according to your preference, your ballot paper will be informal and your vote won’t be counted," the AEC spokesperson said.
“We recommend following the instructions on the ballot paper, and refraining from including any drawings."
Do donkey votes count?
Yes.
A donkey vote is where you number your vote in the same order that the candidates appear on the ballot.
This can happen by accident or because a voter doesn't understand or care how to vote. If all the boxes are numbered, your vote will count.
What is the fine for not voting?
The fine is $20, this has been in place since 1984.
What can happen if you don't vote? A Darwin-based pensioner learned this lesson the hard way, when he chose to miss the polling booth and then ignored the following three penalty notices asking to pay the $20 fine.
He had to front court for violating section 245 of the Commonwealth Electoral Act of 1918 — and was given the maximum penalty.
That was a fine of $180, plus his lawyer fees, which amounted to a total of $303.
What if I don't like any candidate?
Yeah, nah. You still have to vote.
Disliking every candidate or having no preference is not considered a valid excuse.
Votes that are not made correctly are known as informal votes and will not be counted.
Informal votes can include ballot papers that are:
- blank or unmarked
- not all the boxes are numbered
- a number is repeated
- ticked or crossed, rather than numbered.
How many people end up voting?
More than 17.2 million Australians are enrolled for the upcoming 2022 federal election.
AEC figures show that 16.4 million Australians were enrolled to vote in the 2019 federal election. Of this, 92 per cent voted.
Voting has been compulsory in Australia since 1924. And, as such, it has one of the highest voter turnouts in the world.
Do prisoners vote in Australia?
It depends.
If you’re serving a full-time sentence of fewer than three years, yes — it’s compulsory to vote in the federal election.
If you’re serving a sentence of three years or longer, no — you cannot vote in a federal election.
There are two ways an enrolled prisoner can vote — that’s either by postal vote or by voting in person with a prison mobile polling team.
What happens if I get COVID-19 before the election? Do I get fined?
Fear not. The AEC says a telephone voting option will be available as an emergency measure for people who test positive for COVID-19 after 6pm on Tuesday, May 17 — the final three voting days.
Can I vote early?
While you can't vote online in the 2022 federal election, you certainly can vote early via either an early voting centre, a postal vote or via an AEC mobile polling team.
Mobile polling teams visit voters not able to get to a polling place, such as hospitals, residential care facilities and remote areas of Australia.
To find an early voting centre near you, the AEC has released its list of early polling centres, see here. This list will continually be updated until election day.
