Voting in Australia, Information about the electoral roll
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Voting in Australia, Information about the electoral roll| ProofReader |
 Posted: Thu 12th April, 2007 - 11:52
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Passionate Plonker  Group: Administrator Posts: 275 Member No.: 1 Joined: 13/01/2007  |
The following information is quoted directly from the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) Info Centre. Who is eligible to enrol? Any person who:
** A person who expects to become an Australian citizen between the date of the writ and polling day and is not already enrolled will have until close of rolls to apply for provisional enrolment. Their enrolment will be confirmed once they have provided evidence that they have been granted citizenship. Note: A prisoner serving a sentence of full time detention may remain on the roll, or apply for enrolment if not enrolled, but is not entitled to vote. Why are some British subjects allowed to be on the electoral roll? There are British subjects living permanently in Australia, who are not Australian citizens, who are eligible to vote in federal elections and referendums. Under section 93(1)(B)(ii) of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918, British subjects, who were on a Commonwealth Electoral Roll immediately before 26 January 1984, are eligible to enrol and vote at federal elections and referendums. Section 4 of the Referendum (Machinery Provisions) Act 1984 also provides that electors who are entitled to vote at an election are entitled to vote at a referendum. Prior to 1984, eligibility to enrol and vote was based on a combination of British subject status and a minimum Australian residence qualification of six months. In 1981, the Parliament passed legislative amendments changing the Commonwealth franchise qualifications. It was the view of all political parties and governments, State and Commonwealth, that Australian citizenship is the appropriate basis for the franchise. Parliaments in all States soon passed complementary legislation. When the franchise qualifications were changed to require Australian citizenship, it was considered unfair to disenfranchise British subjects who were already enrolled and entitled to vote. Consequently, British subjects who were already enrolled at the date of transition were able to retain their franchise. It is compulsory for British subjects who were on a Commonwealth electoral roll immediately before 26 January 1984, to enrol to vote, even if following 25 January 1984 they have let their enrolment lapse. Brisitsh (sic) subjects not on the roll immediatley (sic) before 26 January, 1984 are not eligible to enrol even if they were resident in Australia at that time. Over time, the number of British subjects on the Commonwealth Electoral Roll prior to 26 January 1984 is gradually diminishing. What are the Commonwealth countries, whose citizens had the status of British subjects in Australia as at 25 January 1984? The citizens of the following Commonwealth countries had the status of a British subject in Australia as at 25 January 1984: Countries listed in Section 7 of the Australian Citizenship Act:
Countries included in Citizenship Regulation 5A:
For further information regarding electoral matters, please read the AEC Info Centre. |
  
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