Editing Elections in Australia (section)

==Voting==
[[File:Ac.ballotdraw.jpg|thumb| left|The [[Australian Electoral Commission]] holding a blind ballot to determine the order of candidates on the ballot paper]]

{| class="wikitable" style="float: right;" border="1" 
|-
| colspan="3" style="font-size:100%; background:#cef; text-align:center;"|[[Spoilt vote|Informal votes]] at<br />federal elections (%)
|-
! Year !! Senate !! House
|-
| 1983 || 9.9 || 2.5
|-
| 1984 || 4.3{{decrease}} || 6.3{{increase}}
|-
| 1987 || 4.1{{decrease}} || 4.9{{decrease}}
|-
| 1990 || '''3.4'''{{decrease}} || '''3.2'''{{decrease}}
|-
| 1993 || 2.6{{decrease}} || 3.0{{decrease}}
|-
| 1996 || 3.5{{increase}} || 3.2{{increase}}
|-
| 1998 || 3.24{{decrease}} || 3.78{{increase}}
|-
| 2001 || '''3.9'''{{increase}} || '''4.8'''{{increase}}
|-
| 2004 || 3.8{{decrease}} || 5.2{{increase}}
|-
| 2007 || 2.55{{decrease}} || 3.95{{decrease}}
|-
| 2010 || '''3.75'''{{increase}} || '''5.55'''{{increase}}
|-
| 2013 || 2.96{{decrease}} || 5.91{{increase}}
|-
| 2016 || 3.94{{increase}} || 5.05{{decrease}}
|-
| 2019 || 3.8{{decrease}} || 5.5{{increase}}
|-
| 2022 || '''3.4'''{{decrease}} || '''5.1'''{{decrease}}
|-
| colspan="3" style="font-size:80%; background:#cef; text-align:center;"|Source: Australian<br />Electoral Commission<ref name="infvot">{{cite web |url=http://www.aec.gov.au/voting/informal_voting/summary.htm |title=Informality (%) House of Representatives and Senate |publisher=Australian Electoral Commission |access-date=14 June 2013 |archive-date=19 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130619160354/http://www.aec.gov.au/voting/Informal_Voting/summary.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="float: right;" border="1" 
|-
| colspan="3" style="font-size:100%; background:#cef; text-align:center;"|[[Voter turnout]] at<br />federal elections (%)
|-
! Year !! Senate !! House
|-
| [[1983 Australian federal election|1983]] || 94.64 || 94.64
|-
| [[1984 Australian federal election|1984]] || 94.55{{decrease}} || 94.19{{decrease}}
|-
| [[1987 Australian federal election|1987]] || 94.34{{decrease}} || 93.84{{decrease}}
|-
| [[1990 Australian federal election|1990]] || '''95.81'''{{increase}} || '''95.31'''{{increase}}
|-
| [[1993 Australian federal election|1993]] || 96.22{{increase}} || 95.75{{increase}}
|-
| [[1996 Australian federal election|1996]] || 96.20{{decrease}} || 95.77{{increase}}
|-
| [[1998 Australian federal election|1998]] || 95.34{{decrease}} || 94.99{{decrease}}
|-
| [[2001 Australian federal election|2001]] || '''95.20'''{{decrease}} || '''94.85'''{{decrease}}
|-
| [[2004 Australian federal election|2004]] || 94.82{{decrease}} || 94.32{{decrease}}
|-
| [[2007 Australian federal election|2007]] || 95.17{{increase}} || 94.76{{increase}}
|-
| [[2010 Australian federal election|2010]] || '''93.83'''{{decrease}} || '''93.22'''{{decrease}}
|-
| [[2013 Australian federal election|2013]] || 93.88{{increase}} || 93.23{{increase}}
|-
| [[2016 Australian federal election|2016]] || 91.93{{decrease}} || 91.01{{decrease}}
|-
| [[2019 Australian federal election|2019]] || 92.48{{increase}} || 91.89{{increase}}
|-
| [[2022 Australian federal election|2022]] || '''90.47'''{{decrease}} || '''89.82'''{{decrease}}
|-
| colspan="3" style="font-size:80%; background:#cef; text-align:center;"|Source: Australian<br />Electoral Commission<ref>{{cite web |access-date=4 December 2024 |archive-date=5 December 2024 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241205023243/https://www.aec.gov.au/Elections/federal_elections/voter-turnout.htm |date=7 November 2023 |publisher=Australian Electoral Commission |title=Voter turnout – previous events |url=https://www.aec.gov.au/Elections/federal_elections/voter-turnout.htm}}</ref>
|}
[[File:Polling place, Melbourne Suburbs, Vic, jjron, 02.07.2016.jpg|thumb|left|Voting at a polling booth in suburban Melbourne in the [[2016 Australian federal election|2016 Federal Election]]]]
[[File:StateLibQld 1 72579 Women inside the gate of the city polling station, voting for the first time in a Queensland state election, May 1907 (suffragette movement in Queensland).jpg|thumb|left|Women voting for the first time in the [[1907 Queensland state election]]]]

Voting in federal, state and territory elections is [[Compulsory voting|compulsory]] for all persons on the electoral roll.<ref name="edomn">{{Cite news |url=http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/enrolling-deadline-on-monday-night/story-e6frfku0-1225893266136 |title=Enrolling deadline on Monday night |agency=Australian Associated Press |access-date=13 June 2013 |date=17 July 2010 |work=news.com.au |archive-date=21 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150521161309/http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/enrolling-deadline-on-monday-night/story-e6frfku0-1225893266136 |url-status=live }}</ref> Voting can take place by a person attending in person at any polling place in their State on the election day or in early voting locations, or by applying for and mailing in a [[postal vote]]. Voters may apply for postal votes in perpetuity. [[Absentee ballot#Australia|Absentee voting]] is also available, but not [[proxy voting]].

At the 2007 federal election there were 7,723 polling places open for voting.<ref name="artv">{{Cite news |url=http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/breaking-news/australians-reminded-to-vote-tomorrow/story-e6frg13c-1111114944697 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130616025626/http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/breaking-news/australians-reminded-to-vote-tomorrow/story-e6frg13c-1111114944697 |url-status=dead |archive-date=16 June 2013 |title=Australians reminded to vote tomorrow |agency=Australian Associated Press |access-date=13 June 2013 |date=22 November 2007 |work=PerthNow }}</ref> In remote areas, hospitals and retirement villages, mobile polling places have been used since the 1980s.<ref name="atsod">{{cite book |title=Australia: The State of Democracy |last=Sawer |first=Marian |author2=Norman Abjorensen |author3=Philip Larkin |year=2009 |publisher=Federation Press |isbn=978-1862877252 |pages=107–114 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F09pc74M9NMC |access-date=13 June 2013 |archive-date=10 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310212059/https://books.google.com/books?id=F09pc74M9NMC |url-status=live }}</ref> The visually impaired can use electronic [[voting machine]]s.<ref name="evcta">{{Cite news |url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/e-voting-comes-to-australia/ |title=E-voting comes to Australia |author=Jo Best |access-date=14 June 2013 |date=17 July 2007 |publisher=ZDNet |archive-date=14 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220514050123/https://www.zdnet.com/article/e-voting-comes-to-australia/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Voting is almost entirely conducted by paper ballot. If more than one election takes place at the same time (for example, for the House of Representatives and the Senate), separate ballot papers are used, green for House and white for Senate. These are usually of different colours and are deposited into separate boxes.

Upper house polls used to require every square to be numbered, but this became a burden for voters, with some elections including over 200 squares.{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}} This has been simplified by the introduction of "Above the line" and "below the line" voting. Votes "above the line" allow voters to number by party/group, whereas "below the line" voting requires preferencing each candidate individually.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Australian Electoral Commission |title=Voting in the Senate |url=https://www.aec.gov.au/Voting/How_to_Vote/Voting_Senate.htm |url-status=live |access-date=2025-05-23 |website=Australian Electoral Commission}}</ref>

[[How-to-vote card]]s are usually handed out at polling places by party volunteers. They suggest how a party supporter might vote for other candidates or parties. Electors now routinely receive how-to-vote materials through the mail or by other means.

In practice, privacy arrangements allow [[spoilt vote|informal]] and [[protest vote]]s to take place. At the 2010 federal election more than 1.5&nbsp;million people did not vote or voted incorrectly.<ref name="puis">{{Cite news |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-06-12/off-the-hustings-poll-preparations/4749806 |title=Political uncertainty is changing the preparations for the 2013 federal election |author=James Glenday |access-date=12 June 2013 |date=12 June 2013 |work=ABC News |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |archive-date=13 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130613022827/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-06-12/off-the-hustings-poll-preparations/4749806 |url-status=live }}</ref> Academic Brian Costar from [[Swinburne University]] claims the rate of [[donkey vote]]s in Australia is around 2% of all votes, but the figure is hard to determine accurately.<ref name="dvtgt">{{Cite news |url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/donkey-votes-to-go-to-coalition-in-key-marginal-labor-seats/story-fn59niix-1225906291988 |title=Donkey votes to go to Coalition in key marginal Labor seats |author=Christian Kerr |access-date=18 May 2015 |date=17 August 2010 |newspaper=The Australian |archive-date=5 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150405221005/http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/donkey-votes-to-go-to-coalition-in-key-marginal-labor-seats/story-fn59niix-1225906291988 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Most polling places are schools, community halls or churches. Supporters of these places very commonly take advantage of the large number of visitors undertaking fund raising activity, often including raffles, cake stalls and sales of so-called [[democracy sausage]]s.
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