The Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC) has issued a reminder for Victorians to ensure their voting enrolment details are correct ahead of the State election on Saturday 26 November.
Many Victorians may be unaware that they have been directly enrolled to vote in the election, which occurs when the VEC uses information provided by other government bodies such as the Department of Transport or the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority to add people to the electoral roll.
Deputy Electoral Commissioner, Dana Fleming, says that although the VEC writes to everyone who the VEC proposes to directly enrol, research indicated that people were often not aware they had been directly enrolled.
“The process is that we write to people and advise that unless they are not eligible and tell us within 21 days, we will automatically update their enrolment with the address details we have been provided,” Ms Fleming said.
“At the last State election, voter turnout for directly-enrolled voters was close to 78% compared to the overall voter turnout rate of 90%, accounting for a significant proportion of the drop in voter turnout at the 2018 election.”
Data shows that this group of voters tend be younger, more likely to have moved since the last election and less likely to vote.
Accordingly, the VEC will use mobile numbers and email addresses (where provided) to send VoterAlert messaging to directly-enrolled voters ahead of the election reminding them to check their enrolment details.
Ms Fleming recommends all young people who are eligible to vote in the upcoming election go to the VEC’s website before 8 pm on Tuesday 8 November to confirm that they are on the electoral roll and update their address details.
“If you’ve recently moved home, you may not be aware that you’ve been directly enrolled to vote,” Ms Fleming said.
“As everyone on the electoral roll must vote, I certainly don’t want a situation where a person first realises that they should have voted when they receive our ‘please explain’ letter after the election.”
Further details on updating your enrolment details can be found on the website at vec.vic.gov.au/enrolment/update-my-enrolment
