House of Representatives Committees

| Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters

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Report on the conduct of the 2007 federal election and matters related thereto

22 June 2009

View the report as a single document - (PDF 1971KB)

View the report as separate downloadable parts:


Preliminary Pages	(PDF 181KB)
Chair’s foreword Membership of the Committee Committee Secretariat Terms of reference List of abbreviations Summary and recommendations

Chapter 1 Introduction	(PDF 56KB)
Committee role Scope Conduct

Chapter 2 2007 election overview and key issues	(PDF 179KB)
Background Administration of the 2007 election 2004 election issues Comments on the conduct of the 2007 election The multiple voting myth Committee conclusion Election context and major issues Enfranchisement of eligible electors Legislative changes between the 2004 and 2007 federal elections McEwen recount and Henderson review Electoral roll Voter turnout and votes issued Informal voting Election costs

Chapter 3 Enabling the franchise	(PDF 234KB)
Background Close of rolls enrolment Committee conclusion Exercising the franchise 2007 election electoral roll Committee conclusion Enfranchising postal voters Background Proposed changes Committee conclusion Modernising postal vote applications Committee conclusion

Chapter 4 Maintaining an effective electoral roll	(PDF 245KB)
Enrolment awareness and participation Committee conclusion Proof of identity for enrolment Committee conclusion Maintaining the currency of the electoral roll Committee conclusion Roll maintenance strategies and activities Source of enrolment forms Facilitating electronic interactions Committee conclusion Encouraging young Australians to enrol Committee conclusion

Chapter 5 Election and enrolment — State and Territory issues	(PDF 172KB)
Reports by Australian Electoral Commission state managers New South Wales Victoria Queensland Western Australia South Australia Tasmania Northern Territory Relationships with state and territory electoral authorities Committee conclusion Contributions to growing the electoral roll Youth enrolment activities Source of enrolment forms

Chapter 6 Increasing the participation of Indigenous and homeless electors	(PDF 168KB)
Indigenous electors Indigenous participation Efforts to engage with Indigenous electors Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Electoral Information Service program Future efforts to increase participation by Indigenous electors Committee conclusion Homeless electors Engaging homeless electors Enrolment and voting provisions relating to homeless electors Efforts to increase participation by homeless electors Proposals to increase participation by homeless electors Committee conclusion

Chapter 7 Responding to the increased demand for early voting	(PDF 228KB)
Background Early voting trends Pre-poll voting Postal voting Absent voting Overseas voting Trends for early voting in state and territory elections Explaining the growth in early voting Responding to the increase in early voting Impact of the trend to early voting Committee conclusion Home division pre-poll votes as ordinary votes More timely preliminary scrutiny of declaration votes Expanding access to pre-poll voting opportunities Mobile polling flexibility Pre-poll voting at shopping centres Postal vote applications issued by political parties The impact of ‘party’ postal voting applications Approved form for postal voting applications

Chapter 8 Formality issues	(PDF 542KB)
Background House of Representatives Senate Efforts to reduce informality at the 2007 election Comments on informality by inquiry participants Committee conclusion ‘Saving’ informal votes Savings provision for the South Australian House of Assembly elections Savings provisions for non-sequential numbering in the Commonwealth Electoral Act Committee conclusion Implications arising from the McEwen petition Court of Disputed Returns process and decision Henderson review Process for handling disputed ballot papers Committee conclusion Clarification of permitted official marks, and removals to ‘on-demand’ printing of ballot papers

Chapter 9 Modernisation and sustainability of electoral administration	(PDF 181KB)
Election costs and cost pressures Inquiry into the effect of the efficiency dividend on smaller public agencies Funding arrangements and the impact of the efficiency dividend 2009-10 Budget Committee conclusion National Tally Room Flexible regime for forms design Flexibility in the allocation of enrolment processing tasks Electronic certified lists in polling places and pre-poll centres Proposed technical and operational amendments to the Commonwealth Electoral Act Committee conclusion

Chapter 10 Modernising regulatory arrangements	(PDF 96KB)
Commonwealth Electoral Act offence provisions Committee conclusion Events in the division of Lindsay Committee conclusion

Chapter 11 Other issues	(PDF 177KB)
Prisoner voting Background Implications of the Roach decision Committee conclusion Overseas and expatriate voting Background Proposals for change Efforts to enfranchise under current arrangements Committee conclusion Assisted voting for blind and low vision electors Committee conclusion Roll and certified list prints in electronic form Committee conclusion Senate counting systems Criticisms of current counting arrangements Election outcomes under different current counting arrangement Australian Electoral Commission advice on Senate counting systems Committee conclusion Finance industry access to the electoral roll Background Proposed changes Committee conclusion

Dissenting Report - Coalition	(PDF 93KB)

Dissenting Report - Australian Greens	(PDF 41KB)

Supplementary Remarks - Daryl Melham MP	(PDF 134KB)

Appendix A – Submissions and Exhibits	(PDF 46KB)

Appendix B – Public Hearings	(PDF 61KB)

Appendix C – Selected data	(PDF 104KB)