Early vote record broken ahead of referendum

Polling centre queues will be shorter than usual on referendum day, with most Australians having already casted their vote.

Harry Brill

less than 2 min read

9:07PMOctober 13, 2023

The nation’s early-voting record is set to be smashed, after there was a massive surge in the casting of referendum pre-poll ballots.

An Australian Electoral Commission spokesman said on Friday that by referendum day, more than six million voters would have lodged their ballots at a pre-polling centre – with more than one million having voted in the final 24 hours of pre-polls.

As well, more than two million people had applied for a postal vote.

The AEC said it expected about eight million people to cast their vote on referendum day – just fewer than half the 17.6 million citizens enrolled.

About 97.7 per cent of eligible Australians are enrolled to vote.

Everything you need to know before you vote

Commissioner Tom Rogers said the record-breaking number was a credit to the Australian people. “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,” he said.

“Between announcement of the referendum date and close of rolls, some 79,000 people were added to the role, with 376,000 other eligible Australians updating details.”

NSW recorded the highest enrolment rate of 99 per cent with Victoria (98.3 per cent) and ACT (98 per cent) just behind. The Northern Territory came in at last with a rate of 91.7 per cent.

Mr Rogers noted young Australians, in particular, had improved their registration numbers. “The youth enrolment rate has increased 91.4 per cent, which means about 1.8 million 18 to 24-year-olds are ready to … have their say in their first referendum.”

As for First Nations people?

“In terms of First Nations enrolment, this sits at 94.1 per cent and is the highest it has ever been,” Mr Rogers said.

“Well done Australia. It’s time to have your say.”