"What happens if I do not vote?
Initially the Australian Electoral Commission will write to all apparent non-voters requesting that they either provide a reason for their failure to vote or pay a $20 penalty.
If, within 21 days, the apparent non-voter fails to reply, cannot provide a valid and sufficient reason or declines to pay the penalty, then prosecution proceedings may be instigated. If the matter is dealt with in court and the person is found guilty, he or she may be fined up to $50 plus court costs.
Non-voters
17. Apparent non-voters are identified using
certified lists of voters. The certified lists
contain information from the electoral roll on
who is entitled to vote at an election.
18. Electors voting in person are required to have
their names marked off the certified list of
voters at the polling place before they are
issued with ballot papers (s. 232 the Act).
Declaration voters complete a declaration
certificate before they vote that allows their
names to be marked off the certified lists
of voters before their votes are entered into
the count.
19. The certified lists then become a record
of who has voted and who appears not to
have voted.
20. Under s. 245(2) of the Act, a list of the names
and addresses of the electors who appear
to have failed to vote at an election must be
prepared for each division. After election day,
the names and addresses on all certified lists
of voters for all divisions across Australia are
scanned by computer. This scanning process
produces a report on apparent non-voters and
apparent multiple voters.
21. Within three months after election day, each
Divisional Returning Officer (DRO) must send
by post a penalty notice to every elector
whose name and address appears on the
list of apparent non-voters.
LECTORAL
Ebackgrounder No. 17
22. The DRO is not required to send a penalty
notice to electors who have died, were absent
from Australia on election day, were known
to be ineligible to vote at the election, or who
have supplied a valid and sufficient reason for
not voting.
23. The penalty notice posted to an elector
advises that he or she appears to have failed
to vote at the election and that it is an offence
to fail to vote at an election without a valid
and sufficient reason. The elector is further
advised that if he or she does not wish to
have the matter dealt with by a court, the
elector may, within a specified time either:
• Advise the DRO of the circumstances
in which they did in fact vote
• Advise the DRO of the valid and
sufficient reason why they did not
vote, or
• Pay to the DRO a penalty of $20.
24. If no reply is received to the first penalty
notice, a second penalty notice must be
sent by the DRO.
25. Under subsection 245(11) of the Act,
if an elector is unable to respond to
correspondence from the DRO because of
absence from his or her residential address or
because of physical incapacity, then another
elector who has personal knowledge of the
facts may respond on behalf of the elector
who appears to have failed to vote.
26. If the elector pays to the DRO the $20 penalty
for failing to vote, then the matter ends there.
27. Where the elector writes to the DRO providing
a reason for not voting, and the DRO is not
satisfied that the reason provided is valid
and sufficient, then the DRO must write again
to the elector advising that the DRO is not
satisfied, and that if the elector does not wish
to have the matter dealt with by a court, the
elector may, within a specified time period,
pay to the DRO a penalty of $20. If the elector
then pays to the DRO the $20 penalty for
failing to vote, the matter ends there.
28. An elector may be prosecuted pursuant to
s. 245(15) for failing to vote at an election
without a valid and sufficient reason, or for
making a statement in response to a penalty
notice, or to the further notice by the DRO,
that is, to his or her knowledge, false or
misleading in a material particular. The court
may impose a maximum penalty of $50. In
addition, court costs may also be payable.
29. It should be noted that if a non-voter has been
convicted and fined by a court, but decides
not to pay the fine, then it is for the court to
decide what action should be taken or if a
further penalty should be imposed. The action
taken by the court in relation to fine defaulters
may vary depending on the state or territory
in which the conviction is recorded, and may
involve community service orders, seizure
of goods, or a short period in jail. In some
jurisdictions the court may have no alternative
to ordering a jail sentence for fine defaulters.
However, this is a matter for the courts and
not for the AEC."
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