Electoral Law Changes

Several major changes were made to Australia’s electoral law in 2006 in what the Australian Labor Party (ALP), the minor parties, and many academic and media commentators described as an attack on democracy. The Howard Government attributed many of the changes to the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters, which tabled its report on the 2004 federal election in October 2005. However, most of the reforms had been on the government’s agenda for some time.

The most controversial amendments to the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918, and other relevant Acts, relate to enrolment and political donations. Under the revisions:

• people are now required to supply proof of identity when enrolling or updating their enrolment
• the electoral roll now closes for new voters on the day the writ for an election is issued (or three days after the writ is issued for those updating enrolment details)
• voters casting a provisional vote now have to provide proof of identity at the time of casting the vote or shortly thereafter
• thresholds for the disclosure of political donations are now set at ‘amounts above $10 000’ (up from $1500) and are indexed annually to the Consumer Price Index (meaning that the threshold applicable at the 2007 election was $10 500), and
• the tax deductibility for political donations is now $1500 (up from $100).

The Howard Government also passed an amendment to stop prisoners who were in detention full-time from voting in a federal election, but the High Court ruled the amendment invalid. As a result, the original law—under which only those prisoners serving a sentence of three years or longer cannot enrol or vote—stands.

The ALP opposed many of the changes from the outset, especially the higher disclosure thresholds and the removal of a seven-day period between the issue of the writ and the closing of the roll. It argues that the higher thresholds decrease the transparency of political finance, thereby increasing the potential for secret donations designed to influence politics, and that closing the roll early potentially disenfranchises thousands of new voters (generally young people). On the latter, it cites figures from the Australian Electoral Commission showing that in 2004 more than 280 000 people enrolled to vote or changed their enrolment in a substantive way in the seven days before the roll closed.

Given its concerns about the impact of the electoral law changes, the Rudd Government could be expected to implement the ALP’s pledge to:

• reinstate the seven-day period between the issue of the writ and the closing of the electoral roll
• lower the donation disclosure threshold, and
• remove the tax deductibility of political donations.

The ALP has said it would work with the states and territories to explore new strategies to ensure that the electoral roll is kept up to date.