Where to vote

The Australian Electoral Commission has backflipped on a decision that would have seen up to 200000 Aussies unable to vote.

(It could even be you) Those who did not apply for a postal vote before deadline, haven’t voted, but tested positive and are in isolation “may not be eligible to vote”. New to Flash? Try 1 month free. Stream more election news live & on demand with Flash. 25+ news channels in 1 place. This morning, finally, those recommendations have come forward,” Mr Morrison said. The AEC can’t change the criteria itself but Mr Rogers said it had heard the concerns expressed by members of the public who tested positive to Covid-19 prior to 6pm on Tuesday and had not cast an early vote or applied for a postal vote.

There's been a last-minute change to voting rules to allow more Australians with coronavirus to cast their ballots over the phone, but how does it work?

And how long do I have to do it?By Voters who are blind or have low vision will also be able to vote over the phone, and have been able to register for the service since May 9. A last-minute change to voting rules has been made so people who have tested positive to COVID will be able to vote over the phone this election.

The Australian Electoral Commission has expanded telephone voting after concerns thousands of COVID-19 infected people would not be...

A Melbourne independent candidate for the election had threatened to take the federal government to court to ensure people excluded by the postal deadline could instead vote by phone. At issue were AEC voting rules for people who tested positive for the virus between last Saturday and before 6pm on Tuesday, who were only going to be allowed to lodge postal votes. Phone voting was previously only available to people who tested positive after 6pm on Tuesday.

Voting rules will be changed at the last minute to override a regulation that would have prevented some COVID-positive people from casting their ballot.

The electoral commission said the organisation was going to “extreme lengths to endeavour to get access to as many Australians” and that “by point of comparison, voters in Canada didn’t have a service if they tested positive”. “For people who did not apply for a postal vote before the application cut off, haven’t voted yet, tested positive before Tuesday and are in isolation through to after election day, they may not be able to vote,” a commission spokesperson said in a statement. “We will accept any recommendation that comes forward from the independent electoral commissioner should he believe that any regulations need to be changed or anything needs to be changed,” he told Natalie Barr.

There's been a last-minute change to voting rules to allow more Australians with COVID to vote over the phone. But how does it work?

And how long do I have to do it?By Voters who are blind or have low vision will also be able to vote over the phone, and have been able to register for the service since May 9. A last-minute change to voting rules has been made so people who have tested positive to COVID will be able to vote over the phone this election.

The Independent candidate hoping to take Treasurer Josh Frydenberg's seat of Kooyong tomorrow is pressing ahead with legal action against the Commonwealth ...

"Some donors have indicated that they don't want refunds. 0:00 0:00

None of the transport projects proposed by the two parties during the election campaign has been assessed by Infrastructure Australia as nationally ...

First, “the quality of the projects promised in the heat of election campaigns is poor,” she says. It should “require a minister, before approving funding, to consider and publish Infrastructure Australia’s assessment of a project, including the business case, cost-benefit analysis, and ranking on national significance grounds”. Presumably, the voters in these seats find the projects attractive. The tiny projects are too small to be assessed by Infrastructure Australia and, as we’ve seen, the big ones get promised without completing proper assessment. Two-thirds of the Coalition’s promised spending is on projects costing $30 million or less, and nearly half of Labor’s. We’re talking commuter station car parks and roundabouts. Even before the pandemic, employment in the sector had surged by half, and supply-chain disruptions had made it slower, more difficult and more expensive to find materials. They know a lot more about what’s most needed where, meaning that when the feds blunder in with their vote-buyers, things often go amiss. In her assessment of the two parties’ promises this time, she notes that the emphasis on winning votes in key marginal seats is quite unfair. Once I was a big supporter of greater spending on infrastructure projects, even when most of the cost had to be borrowed. For some years, the engineering construction industry has been warning about its limited capacity to deliver the existing pipeline of projects, let alone add to it. When a politician doesn’t bother with that, but picks projects just on winning votes, you can’t even be sure people in the chosen electorate will gain much benefit. Note, however, that none of these six projects has been assessed by Infrastructure Australia as nationally significant and worth building.

"Any voter who has tested positive for COVID-19 after 6pm Friday 13th May will be able to access the Secure Telephone Voting service," he said in a statement. " ...

Doug Dingwall is The Canberra Times' Public Service Editor. He writes about government and federal politics, and edits The Public Sector Informant. He has an interest in integrity and industrial relations. Previously he worked at The Examiner in Launceston, where he won a Tasmanian Human Rights Award in 2016 for his reporting. Doug Dingwall is The Canberra Times' Public Service Editor. He writes about government and federal politics, and edits The Public Sector Informant. He has an interest in integrity and industrial relations. Previously he worked at The Examiner in Launceston, where he won a Tasmanian Human Rights Award in 2016 for his reporting. I'm the federal politics bureau chief for the Canberra Times, via a career that's taken me from rural Victoria to Washington DC. Telling the stories of my local LGBTI community brought me to journalism, where I've covered seven federal budgets, four national elections, Defence, public service and international governance. "We heard from community members who did not apply for a postal vote before the deadline, we acted to extend the phone voting service and all COVID+ voters can vote in the election."

The electoral commission has expanded telephone voting to tens of thousands of people in isolation with COVID-19, amid disenfranchisement fears.

A Melbourne independent candidate for the election had threatened to take the federal government to court to ensure people excluded by the postal deadline could instead vote by phone. The AEC said it acted to resolve the issue after hearing from COVID-positive people who had missed their chance to apply for a postal vote. The change came after the AEC had urgent talks with the federal government on Friday morning, ahead of the poll on Saturday.

High-profile independent candidate Monique Ryan is set to launch a Federal Court challenge to ensure COVID-positive Australians can vote in the federal ...

There is no call-back service so people have to wait on the phone until they cast their vote. Mr Rogers said he expected that to hit 50 per cent this year. He said he hoped the change would not lead to a challenge in the Court of Disputed Returns. Mr Rogers is urging people who have already registered to vote on the phone to do so as soon as possible and has warned there could be lengthy delays voting by phone. - The original rules meant people who tested positive prior to Tuesday but did not apply for a postal vote could not vote over the phone Changes to voting rules will be made to ensure all Australians with COVID-19 will be allowed to vote in the federal election.

On the morning of the final day of a six-week election campaign, the Australian Electoral Commission has expanded the telephone voting service to anyone who has ...

Before Friday’s backflip, only those who tested positive after 6pm on Tuesday were eligible to vote by phone but anyone else still in isolation on election day could only vote by post. On the morning of the final day of a six-week election campaign, the Australian Electoral Commission has expanded the telephone voting service to anyone who has had COVID since 6pm on Friday, May 13. Anyone who is in isolation with COVID will be able to vote in Saturday’s Federal election by telephone following a major backflip — three days after The West Australian revealed infected voters could miss out.

The AEC says it is bound by legislation to limit phone voting to COVID-positive people only. Rule changes announced by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) ...

"Postal voting has been heavily promoted and available for people in aged care facilities so the majority of residents had the option to apply for a postal vote prior to the deadline of 6pm Wednesday," the spokesperson said. Paul Saddler said he would support expanding phone voting to all aged care residents in lockdown "if feasible". Ms Measday said phone voting should be extended to aged care residents who were COVID-negative, but required to remain in isolation.

Two people are being treated in hospital after a car driven by an elderly woman ploughed into voters outside a pre-polling booth in Ringwood East.

“She’s obviously tried to hit the brake. “The car went very fast, then a few of us lifted the car to get it off the lady. “It hit the wall, the whiplash and everything – the seat brackets all broke,” he said. There was probably about 10 of us lifting [the car] off I think. Credit to my opponent [Liberal MP Michael Sukkar], he was there too. “It was a shocking event,” Labor candidate Matt Greg told The Age.

The Australian Electoral Commission has formally expanded telephone voting after concerns tens of thousands of COVID-19 infected people...

A Melbourne independent candidate for the election had threatened to take the federal government to court to ensure people excluded by the postal deadline could instead vote by phone. The AEC said it acted to resolve the issue after hearing from COVID-positive people who had missed their chance to apply for a postal vote. At issue were AEC voting rules for people who tested positive for the virus between last Saturday and before 6pm on Tuesday, who were only going to be allowed to lodge postal votes.

Hi there. It's Friday, May 20 and you're reading The Loop, a quick wrap-up of today's news. Let's start here. On today's episode of The Absolute Last Thing ...

- Where to vote. It makes sense that this is trending at the moment — if you haven't voted already, you'll need to do so tomorrow.This personal voter pocket guidewill help you find out where to go, how to cast your ballot if you're unfamiliar with the process, and remind you who's running in your electorate. It usually tends to be mild in presentation, but the alarm was raised because the disease is usually only found in west and central Africa, and rarely spreads elsewhere.

Australian Electoral Commission's state manager for Queensland, Stephanie Attard, says the postal votes were through the roof, almost double the number of ...

For those who have tested positive to COVID-19 after Tuesday, they will be able to vote via secure telephone voting if they missed the deadline for the postal vote. “We heard from community members who did not apply for a postal vote before the deadline, we acted to extend the phone voting service and all COVID+ voters can vote in the election.” There have also been 484,000 people who have applied for a postal vote.

People who didn't apply for a postal vote before the application deadline, tested positive before 6pm on Tuesday 17 May, and are in isolation through to after ...

Please allow this to occur,” @tweeter_vee said. It is our hard fought democratic right to vote. People who didn’t apply for a postal vote before the application deadline, tested positive before 6pm on Tuesday 17 May, and are in isolation through to after election day, “may not be able to vote”, according to the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC).

All of the 17 million Australians registered to vote will need to have their name struck off the electoral registry at a polling station on Saturday or face ...

Voters will need to provide the date and time of their PCR test result or the serial number of their Rapid Antigen Test. Voters in isolation will have to prove a positive Covid test result from either a PCR test or a Rapid Antigen Test, which will also have to be registered with the state or territory authority. All of the 17 million Australians registered to vote will need to have their name struck off the electoral registry at a polling station on Saturday or face a $20 fine which jumps to $220 if unpaid. But if the penalty is left unpaid it can balloon up to a $222 fine and a court date. - Millions of Aussies risk a $222 fine and court date if they fail to vote in election How you can get a criminal conviction for failing to show up, what a fine will cost you and the valid excuses for NOT casting a ballot: Everything you need to know about compulsory voting