You can count on the ABS for same-sex survey inormation

The ABS is working closely with online sales sites to take down listings of those trying to sell their SSM ballots.

Sealed envelopes from the Marriage Law Postal Survey are seen being posted in Adelaide. Picture: AAP

The Australian Bureau of Statistics is working closely with online sales sites to take down listings of those trying to sell their gay marriage ballots.

The ABS has confirmed that it has been in discussion with online sites, including eBay, Facebook, Amazon, Alibaba and Gumtree, regarding the illegal sale of votes.

Statistician Jonathon Palmer says close to 30 auction items have been blocked before they’ve gone online.

“It seems everyday or two someone has a crack at listing a form,” he told ABC radio on Wednesday, thanking eBay and Gumtree for their co-operation. “I think it’s a bit of a joke frankly.”

Meanwhile, the ABS has provided an assurance that the results of the same-sex marriage plebiscite will include a count of Yes and No votes by electorate, state and territory, as well as a nationwide result.

The results, which also include figures for those whose votes were unclear, will be published by the Australian Statistician on November 15, along with a count of eligible Australians who did not participate in the survey.

The participation figures will also be published for each commonwealth electorate division ­according to a series of age groups.

These groups will be 18-19 years, 20-24 years, 25-29 years, 30-34 years, 35-39 years, 40-44 years, 45-49 years, 50-54 years, 55-59 years, 60-64 years, 65-69 years, 70-74 years, 75-79 years, 80-84 years, and 85 and over.

Some participation characteristics will not be available for silent electors as well as those whose electoral information is ­incomplete.

The ABS confirmed they would not be using the same methodology for the survey that currently applies to other data sets such as the labour force survey figures in which “expansion factors” or weights are applied to sample ­responses.

The ABS describes this as a form of “composite estimation” in which it combines the previous six months’ sample responses with the current month’s responses to produce the current month’s ­estimates.

“The weight assigned to a sample response is dependent on the geographic area, age and sex of the respondent, the month in which the response was collected and the number of months the rotation group has been in the sample,” it says

All forms need to be received back by November 7, with the result to be published on November 15.