Australians hoping to mail in their votes at the upcoming election have been warned about using postal vote applications sent by candidates or parties.
Though this practice is legal, the Australian Electoral Commission - which helps run elections and is the sole distributor of postal vote ballot papers - has said unsolicited application forms from third parties can put voters' privacy at risk and result in late votes.
Applications from political parties or candidates are sent to voters through SMS or in the mail, and sometimes use the same colours as the AEC's branding, which can also mislead voters.
"Concerns about party postal vote applications through unsolicited outreach is the number one complaint we hear from voters at almost every election," AEC commissioner Jeff Pope said.
"People should always carefully consider what they're going with their personal information.
"The AEC takes privacy seriously ... political parties don't have to."
The commission recommends Australians vote in-person either on the day or at an early polling booth the two weeks before.
If voters can't get to a polling location, they can directly apply for a postal vote from the AEC's website, which only takes a few minutes.
