More than three hundred thousand ACT voters are expected to participate in this year’s Federal election (21 May), according to the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) which has finalised the number of voters and the candidates they’ll be casting their ballots for.
Electoral Commissioner Tom Rogers said the AEC could now confirm that 96.8 per cent of eligible Australians had been enrolled to vote, with 314,329 of those in the ACT.
“With many nations around the world campaigning to get even three quarters of their population enrolled to vote, this result is a continuing source of Australian democratic pride,” Mr Rogers said.
“The roll has increased in pure number terms by 804,652 since the previous federal election in 2019, a rise of 4.9 per cent,” he said.
“In the close of rolls week, approximately 100,000 people were added to the roll with 617,000 other eligible Australians updating their details.”
Mr Rogers said around 80,000 young Australians (aged 18 to 24) joined online nationally in the week after the election was announced, resulting in 88.1 per cent of that age cohort now ready to have their say.
“Australians stepped up, AEC staff worked hard to validate and process enrolments, and our systems coped well with the load,” Mr Rogers said.
“Well done Australia.
“Now, it’s time to plan your vote.”
The Commissioner said 1,624 candidates had applied to contest the 2022 Federal Election, after nominations were officially declared at public events held across the country.
Mr Rogers said the applications represented a milestone in “the huge, complex logistical operation that is the 2022 Federal Election”.
“Approximately 60 million ballot papers can now be printed and distributed in the coming days and early voting will begin on Monday, 9 May,” he said.
“This is an enormous task that enables our 8,000 voting venues and 105,000 temporary election workers to provide access for Australian voters.”
The Commissioner said the AEC was also working to ensure that each venue had the appropriate COVID safety measures in place and people could feel comfortable to cast their vote in person.
“It really is one of the largest and most complex peacetime logistical events conducted in Australia, and now is when it all comes together ahead of early voting,” Mr Rogers said.
Candidate lists in ballot paper order are now available on the AEC’s website at this PS News link.
