Dozens of voters in 2022 SA election mistakenly threatened with $102 fine for failure to vote

Residents across Adelaide say they’ve been threatened with a $102 fine for failing to vote in the state election – even though they did.

Thousands of voters in this year’s state election may have been mistakenly threatened with a $102 fine for failing to vote, despite many of them doing so on March 19.

The Advertiser was alerted to the issue after Croydon residents complained of receiving letters this week. Many of them had voted at the same polling booth.

Tracey McGann, who voted on March 19 along with her husband at a polling booth on Rosetta Street in Croydon, asked neighbours on social media if they had been sent the same letter from the Electoral Commission of South Australia threatening a $102 fine for an apparent failure to vote.

Within a couple of hours more than fifty other people said they received the same letter.

“We don’t actually know how the error had occurred in the first place,” Mrs McGann said.

“Even though we know that we voted how can we actually prove that?”

The letter stated records showed the elector had not voted in the state election and offered an opportunity to provide a reason for their apparent failure.

Many voters in this year’s state election say they have been mistakenly threatened with a $102 fine for a failure to vote.

It went on to say if a response was not received by mid-July, they would be fined $102.

The ECSA said between 70,000 and 80,000 letters had been sent out so far, blaming a data entry process problem on polling day.

Despite a change in processes for this year’s election because of Covid, they said that number was in proportion with previous elections.

“With over 1.2 million South Australians voting in the state election, it is inevitable that some people were unable to attend a polling booth on election day or may have attended a polling booth or early voting centre and not had their names correctly marked off the electoral roll by the member of staff,” the Electoral Commissioner Mick Sherry told the Advertiser.

“If they voted, they can rest assured their vote was counted. This letter is not a fine and is part of the normal checking process to ensure ECSA’s records are accurate.”

The ECAS said the process in getting names checked off the electoral role had already been updated ahead of the Bragg by-election to avoid further confusion.

Voters who receive a letter are asked to complete the second page of the letter, providing the reason for not voting or details of how they did vote.

Alternatively they can call the non-voter hotline on 1300 655 232 and provide the information over the phone.