Great news ahead of the 21 May Federal Election – more Australians are enrolled to vote than ever before.
That’s according to the fine folk at the Australian Electoral Commission, who reported that more than 17.2 million Australians – or 96 per cent of those eligible – have enrolled; this includes 214,000 on the 18 April deadline, the AEC’s highest single day of enrolments in history.
Electoral Commissioner Tom Rogers has hailed the result as a “modern democratic miracle”.
“Our enrolment teams worked through Easter and have continued to implement processes and systems that ensure Australian enrolment is not just world leading but also secure. We had almost 1,000 staff working in our offices all around Australia over the Easter weekend, making sure we could meet this extraordinary demand.
“The systems operated smoothly and securely under the load, and Australia now has the highest base for democratic participation it has ever had,” he said.
Not only that, but tens of thousands of young Australians signed up this year before the deadline.
“The majority of people who have enrolled to vote since the election was announced are young Australians aged 18 to 24,” the Commissioner said.
Whichever way you’re planning to vote in May, the fact that so many people now can is something to be celebrated.
