Sydney aged care resident Barbara Macgregor has never missed an election. But the 83-year-old won't be able to vote in person this year, nor will a mobile polling team be able to visit her, due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Instead, staff at Ms Macgregor’s care home have been busy applying for postal ballots to be distributed to residents.
“I’ve always gone [to vote], all my life since I turned 21. But seeing as I can’t get out, the postal vote is the way to go,” she says.
Barbara Macgregor says she doesn't mind voting early in the upcoming election. Source: SBS News
How to vote if you catch COVID-19 in the final days before the election
Anyone who tested positive for COVID-19 from 6pm on Friday 13 May is eligible to cast a telephone vote.
The AEC formally expanded the service on Friday after concerns some COVID-positive Australians would be unable to vote in the election.
Previously, phone voting was available to people who tested positive after 6pm on Tuesday 17 May. Those who tested positive prior to that day, had not cast an early vote and would be in isolation until election day were required to apply for a postal vote.
Postal vote applications were open until 6pm on Wednesday, prompting concerns for those who had missed their chance to apply for one but would not qualify for telephone voting.
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The AEC says people must register for a telephone vote by 4pm on election day (21 May). Telephone voting lines will remain open until 6pm that day.
Fear of catching COVID-19 is a valid reason to vote early, with pre-polling starting on 9 May.
But you need to be registered first with the AEC — and rolls close at 8pm on 18 April.
The early voting period will span about two weeks before election day, but AEC spokesperson Evan Ekin-Smyth says people who can turn up on election day should.
“We’ll have more COVID safety measures in place than your average trip to the local supermarket, so you can feel safe to come on down.”
Mr Ekin-Smyth says there are many circumstances that allow for early voting.
“You might be working on election day, you might have a long-held medical appointment, I know people have been due to go into labour on election day. Those are the sorts of circumstances people will need to assess.”
A reasonable fear for your safety is another reason to vote early, which includes a fear of contracting COVID-19.
There are several ways you can cast your ballot early.
The AEC says there will be more than 500 early voting centres available around Australia. People can access them as soon as pre-polling begins on 9 May.
If you are unable to get to a polling place on election day, you can elect to cast your vote by post.
You must apply for a postal vote by the Wednesday before election day (18 May), and there is a period of 13 days after the election for the AEC to receive your ballot.
Mobile polling teams may also visit voters who cannot get to a polling place, such as people in residential aged care facilities and remote areas of Australia, but it may depend on COVID-19 restrictions in place.
Another method that may be utilised much more than past elections is telephone voting. Only 2,044 people voted by phone in the 2019 election.
If you’re diagnosed with COVID-19 or become a close contact in the two days before the election or on election day, you’ll have to vote over the phone.
Mr Ekin-Smyth says that involves a dual registration process, with one interaction where you are marked off the roll and receive a unique code, and then a second interaction where you cast your vote, in order to preserve the secret ballot.
Voters must make a legal declaration to use the service.
“It is an emergency measure. It won’t be smooth. The wait on the line will be longer than the wait in queue at a polling place, so if people are thinking this is a convenient option and can just call up, that’s not what it’s there for.”
Unlike in the United States and some other elections, there will be no option for online voting in Australia's federal election.
There are options for Australians living overseas, with 19 in-person voting centres set up in Australian consular offices around the world.
If you cannot reach those voting centres, you will be able to vote by post.
Rose Dearinger is a 21-year-old Australian living in London, where an in-person voting centre will be available.
“As a young person, I want to travel and I want to see the world,” she says.
“But in doing that, it doesn’t mean I don’t care about what’s going on back home. I’ve got political interests, I’ve studied politics at university.”
Rose Dearinger will be voting in London. Source: Supplied
Every polling station will have a flipbook of instructions in different languages, with a to helping people from non-English speaking backgrounds.
Remind me again of the key dates
- 18 April – electoral rolls close
- 9 May – early voting begins
- 18 May – postal vote applications close
- 21 May – election day. Voting starts at 8am and closes at 6pm.
- 3 June – final day postal votes can be received
Will early voting slow the result?
Mr Ekin-Smyth says the AEC works closely with Australia Post, with ballot paper storage and transport arrangements in place to count votes in secure zones.
Ballot papers have secure watermarks on them which are checked at every stage of the process. But there is an expected pandemic-induced uptick from the usual 8 per cent rate of postal voting.
“We’re catering for a large increase because we have to cater for all eventualities,” Mr Ekin-Smyth says.
“I think it might be a small increase, potentially somewhere in the 10-15 per cent margin.
“There’s a kicker with any vote that we have in an envelope, be it a postal vote or something that’s cast from overseas or around the country. If there are more votes in envelopes, the harder it will be to get an indication of who’ll form government on election night. That’s just a simple fact.”
If the election comes down to a handful of marginal seats, the postal vote count means there may not be an immediate result.
“We might have to wait the full 13 days for those postal votes to get back to us, for any close seats to be decided.”
You can enrol to vote at the You can also call the AEC on 13 23 26 for more information.
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