THE Australian Electoral Commission is warning voters about using unsolicited postal vote application forms from political parties, including via SMS prompts.
In a statement the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) said while it is the one who distributed postal vote ballot papers, unsolicited application forms – received via SMS, email or your mailbox – were sent by a political party or candidate, not the AEC.
The AEC said if you are registered as a general postal voter you will automatically receive a postal vote pack in the mail, you do not need to re-apply for a postal vote.
If your postal address has changed, you can update your postal address online – but you need to ensure it’s updated before 8pm local time Monday, April 7.
“While this is allowed under the Commonwealth Electoral Act and a legitimate avenue to apply for a postal vote, there is often concern about the timeliness of –applications getting to the AEC and the privacy of an applicant’s details,’’ the statement said.
If you are eligible for a postal vote the AEC’s advice is to apply directly on the AEC website
“Applying with the AEC directly is faster than a party application and protects the privacy of personal details.
“The AEC is bound by Australian privacy laws, while political parties are exempt.
Party-issued postal vote application campaigns – through SMS or letter – have the potential to mislead voters into thinking that they are official documents sent by the AEC, and at past elections some have featured misleading colours and even directed voters to non-AEC websites.”
The AEC said it gave the same warning to voters during the 2022 federal election.
Australian Electoral commissioner Jeff Pope said if people receive an application form for a postal vote in the mail, or an SMS encouraging you to apply for a postal vote, it hasn’t come from the AEC.
“We’ve seen a number of major data breaches over the last few years and Australians have a right to know who’s collecting their personal information,’’ he said.
“The AEC takes our privacy law obligations seriously, and we note that political parties are exempt from privacy legislation.”
“Voters ask us how their mobile number is known by a political party – it has not been provided by the AEC.
Mr Pope said federal elections were intended to be in-person events, with postal voting available if you can’t get to a polling place on the day or an early voting location in the two weeks prior to polling day.
“Concerns about party postal vote applications through unsolicited outreach is the number one complaint we hear from voters at almost every federal election.
“The AEC has shared these concerns with parliamentary committees in the past and will continue to do so in the future.”
continue to do so in the future.”
Meanwhile, the AEC is reminding all candidates and political parties planning to contest the federal election that nominations must be returned by midday (local time) on Thursday, April 10.
For political parties, which are able to nominate candidates in bulk, the deadline is sooner – midday (local time) on Tuesday, April 8.
