DOCSLIB.ORG

Inquiry Into the Future of Victoria's Electoral Administration

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Inquiry Into the Future of Victoria's Electoral Administration Inquiry into the future of Victoria’s electoral administration Report to Parliament Electoral Matters Committee March 2014 ORDERED TO BE PRINTED Victorian Government Printer 2014 Parliamentary Paper No. 307, Session 2010-2014 Parliament of Victoria Electoral Matters Committee Inquiry into the future of Victoria’s electoral administration ISBN – 978-0-9872925-5-1 Cover Design by Mono Design Table of Contents Committee Members ......................................................................................... viii Staff ..................................................................................................................... viii The Electoral Matters Committee ....................................................................... ix Terms of Reference .............................................................................................. x Abbreviations ....................................................................................................... xi Recommendations and findings ....................................................................... xii Chair’s Foreword ............................................................................................... xiv Chapter One: Introduction ............................................................... 1 Terms of reference ............................................................................................... 1 Local government electoral review ......................................................................... 1 Responsibilities of the Committee ...................................................................... 1 Relationship with the Victorian Electoral Commission ............................................ 2 Context to the inquiry ........................................................................................... 3 Calls for a review of Victoria’s electoral administration ........................................... 3 Changes to Australian electoral legislation– 2012-2014 ......................................... 4 Commonwealth .............................................................................................. 4 South Australia ............................................................................................... 5 Victoria ........................................................................................................... 6 Electoral events in Victoria ..................................................................................... 6 Melbourne District by-election ........................................................................ 7 Lyndhurst District by-election ......................................................................... 7 Redivision of Victorian state electoral boundaries .......................................... 7 Inquiry process ..................................................................................................... 8 Preliminary research ............................................................................................... 8 Parliamentary Library ..................................................................................... 8 Call for submissions, discussion paper and stakeholder liaison ............................. 9 Submissions ........................................................................................................... 9 Public hearings ..................................................................................................... 10 Background briefings ............................................................................................ 10 Electoral Regulation and Research Network ................................................ 10 Site visits – Australia ............................................................................................. 11 International study tour – United States of America, 2013 .................................... 11 Data analysis ........................................................................................................ 11 Role of Australia’s electoral matters committees .......................................... 12 Report outline ..................................................................................................... 12 Chapter Two: Early voting at Victorian elections ......................... 15 Definition of early voting .................................................................................... 15 Different forms of early voting ............................................................................... 16 Postal voting ................................................................................................. 16 iii Inquiry into the future of Victoria’s electoral administration Committee’s view about postal voting 17 Early voting in person ................................................................................... 18 Matters held over from the Committee’s 2010 Victorian state election inquiry 19 Legislative provisions for voting early in Victoria ........................................... 19 Postal voting ......................................................................................................... 19 Early voting ........................................................................................................... 19 Brief history of early voting in person at Australian elections ....................... 20 Similarities in the development of early voting, Australia and the US .................. 21 Trends in rates of early voting in person at Victorian, federal and Australian state elections ..................................................................................................... 22 Victorian elections ................................................................................................. 22 Federal elections ................................................................................................... 23 Other Australian state elections ............................................................................ 24 Evidence addressing the growth in early voting in person ............................ 25 Reasons for the growing popularity of early voting in person ................................ 26 Normative views about early voting in person ....................................................... 27 Length of the early voting period ........................................................................... 28 Campaigning ......................................................................................................... 29 Electoral administration ......................................................................................... 30 Committee’s findings ......................................................................................... 31 Chapter Three: Legislative methods to reduce informal voting at Victorian Legislative Assembly elections ...................................... 35 Definition of informal voting .............................................................................. 35 Recent trends in informal voting ....................................................................... 36 Victoria .................................................................................................................. 36 Victorian state by-elections ........................................................................... 38 Reasons for increased informal voting at Victorian by-elections .................. 38 The VEC’s informal voting surveys ............................................................... 39 Federal elections ................................................................................................... 40 Australian state elections ...................................................................................... 41 NSW ............................................................................................................. 41 Queensland .................................................................................................. 42 South Australia ............................................................................................. 42 Western Australia ......................................................................................... 43 Tasmania ...................................................................................................... 44 Australian Capital Territory ........................................................................... 44 Northern Territory ......................................................................................... 45 The Committee’s previous work on informal voting ........................................ 45 Legislative methods to reduce informal voting at Victorian Legislative Assembly elections ............................................................................................ 46 Correct procedure for marking the Victorian ballot paper ...................................... 46 iv Table of Contents Legislative methods to reduce informal voting in the Victorian Legislative Assembly elections ............................................................................................................... 47 Optional preferential voting .......................................................................... 47 Full OPV 47 Modified OPV 48 South Australian ticket voting / savings provision ......................................... 49 Recent proposals for reform of the South Australian Legislative Council’s voting system 51 Recent
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Legislative Council
    ABORIGINAL LAND CLAIMS ........................................................................................................... 3235 ADJOURNMENT ........................................................................................................................ 3233, 3239 ADMINISTRATION OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE STATE ...................................................... 3203 ASSENT TO BILLS ............................................................................................................................... 3203 ASSYRIA DAY CONFERENCE .......................................................................................................... 3173 AUDITOR-GENERAL'S REPORT ....................................................................................................... 3181 AUSTRALIAN MARONITE PROFESSIONALS COUNCIL LTD ..................................................... 3179 BALMAIN EAST TRANSPORT INTERCHANGE ............................................................................. 3215 BALMAIN EAST WHARF ......................................................................................................... 3216, 3222 BAYS PRECINCT EDUCATION INFRASTRUCTURE ..................................................................... 3219 BLUE MOUNTAINS LOCAL GOVERNMENT BY-ELECTIONS .................................................... 3236 BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE ............. 3173, 3174, 3175, 3177, 3178, 3180, 3182, 3189, 3190, 3198, 3207 CHILD SEXUAL ASSAULT SENTENCES ........................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • 2012 Legislative Assembly Election (PDF, 3.7MB)
    The Hon K Purick MLA Speaker Northern Territory Legislative Assembly Parliament House Darwin NT 0800 Madam Speaker In accordance with Section 313 of the Electoral Act, I am pleased to provide a report on the conduct of the 2012 Northern Territory Legislative Assembly General Elections. The Electoral Act requires this report to be tabled in the Legislative Assembly within three sittings days after its receipt. Additional copies have been provided for this purpose. Bill Shepheard Electoral Commissioner 24 April 2014 ELECTORAL COMMISSIONER’S FOREWORD The 2012 Legislative Assembly General Elections (LAGE) were the third general elections to be conducted under the NT Electoral Act 2004 (NTEA). The 2012 LAGE was also conducted under the substantially revised NTEA which had a significant impact on operational processes and planning arrangements. Set term elections were provided for in 2009, along with a one-day extension to the election timeframe. Further amendments with operational implications received assent in December 2011 and were in place for the August 2012 elections. A number of these changes were prescribed for both the local government and parliamentary electoral framework and, to some extent, brought the legislation into a more contemporary operating context and also aligned its features with those of other jurisdictions. The NTEC workload before the 2012 LAGE was particularly challenging. It was the second major electoral event conducted by the NTEC within the space of a few months. Local government general elections for five municipalities and ten shire councils were conducted on 24 March 2012, the first time their elections had all been held on the same day.
    [Show full text]
  • Report on the Conduct of the 2007 Federal Election and Matters Related Thereto
    The Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia Report on the conduct of the 2007 federal election and matters related thereto Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters June 2009 Canberra © Commonwealth of Australia 2009 ISBN 978-0-642-79156-6 (Printed version) ISBN 978-0-642-79157-3 (HTML version) Chair’s foreword The publication of this report into the conduct of the 2007 federal election marks 25 years since the implementation of major reforms to the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 which were implemented by the Commonwealth Electoral Legislation Act 1983 and came into effect for the 1984 federal election. These reforms included changes to redistribution processes, the implementation of public funding of election campaigns and the establishment of the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC). This report continues the tradition of examining and reporting on the conduct of federal elections and relevant legislation which has been carried out by the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters and its predecessor, the Joint Select Committee on Electoral Reform. Federal elections in Australia are remarkably complex logistical events. The 2007 election was the largest electoral event undertaken in Australia’s history, with 13,646,539 electors on the electoral roll, to whom 13,364,359 sets of ballot papers were issued, with some 12,930,814 actually being counted in House of Representatives Elections. Australian citizens enjoy a fundamental right to vote which has its basis in sections 7 and 24 of the Constitution. It is evident, however, that at least 466,794 electors were unable to exercise the franchise correctly at the 2007 election, either because they were not on the electoral roll, or they were on the roll with incomplete or incorrect details.
    [Show full text]
  • Annual Report 2014/2015
    Letter of transmittal Contact us The Honourable Don Harwin MLC Legislative Council President of the Legislative Council Parliament House Parliament House Macquarie Street Macquarie Street Sydney NSW 2000 SYDNEY NSW 2000 Website: www.parliament.nsw.gov.au Email: [email protected] Dear Mr President Switchboard: (02) 9230 2111 between 9.00 am and 5.00 pm weekdays, It is with pleasure that I submit for your information excluding public holidays and presentation to the House the annual report for the Fax: (02) 9230 2876 Department of the Legislative Council for the year ended 30 June 2015. Access to the Legislative Council As you are aware, the Department of the Legislative The Legislative Council Chamber and public Council is not legislatively required to table an annual areas of Parliament House are open to report. However, as has been customary over previous members of the public from years, the opportunity to provide information on the 9.00 am to 5.00 pm, every weekday (excluding performance of the Department is embraced. public holidays). During sitting days, public access to the Chamber is restricted to the The content of the report incorporates the reporting visitor’s gallery, where visitors can watch requirements of the Annual Reports (Departments) Act 1985 the proceedings of the House. A calendar and the Public Finance and Audit Act 1983, particularly in specifying sitting days is available from the regard to the Department of the Legislative Council’s aims, Parliament’s website. objectives, operations and financial performance. I commend the report and hope you find it informative.
    [Show full text]
  • 638 EC Report
    Elections in the 21st Century: from paper ballot to e-voting The Independent Commission on Alternative Voting Methods Elections in the 21st Century: from paper ballot to e-voting The Independent Commission on Alternative Voting Methods Elections in the 21st Century: from paper ballot to e-voting Membership of the Independent Commission on Alternative Voting Methods Dr Stephen Coleman (Chair), Director of the The Commission was established by the Electoral Hansard Society’s e-democracy programme, and Reform Society, and is grateful to them for lecturer in Media and Citizenship at the London hosting our meetings. School of Economics & Political Science The Electoral Reform Society is very grateful to Peter Facey, Director of the New Politics the members of the Independent Commission for Network the time which they have so freely given and for their commitment to the development of good Paul Gribble CBE, Independent consultant and electoral practices in the UK.The Society, which advisor on Election Law to the Conservative has since 1884 been campaigning for the Party; Editor of Schofield’s Election Law strengthening of democracy (although principally through reform of the voting system), believes Steven Lake, Director (Policy & External Affairs) that the Commission’s report is a major of the Association of Electoral Administrators, and contribution to the debate on the modernisation Electoral Registration Officer for South of the way we vote and that the report should Oxfordshire District Council guide the development of policy and practice
    [Show full text]
  • Select Committee on Electoral and Political Party Funding
    REPORT OF PROCEEDINGS BEFORE SELECT COMMITTEE ON ELECTORAL AND POLITICAL PARTY FUNDING INQUIRY INTO ELECTORAL AND POLITICAL PARTY FUNDING ——— At Sydney on Friday 11 April 2008 ——— The Committee met at 2.35 p.m. ——— PRESENT Reverend the Hon. Fred Nile (Chair) The Hon. Amanda Fazio The Hon. Jennifer Gardiner The Hon. Don Harwin The Hon. M. S. Veitch COLIN ANTHONY BARRY, Chair, Election Funding Authority of New South Wales, Level 25, 201 Kent Street, Sydney, and TREVOR ALAN FOLLETT, Secretary, Election Funding Authority of New South Wales, Level 25, 201 Kent Street, Sydney, on former affirmation: CHAIR: Welcome to the fifth and final hearing of the Select Committee's inquiry into electoral and political party funding in New South Wales. Before we commence I will make some comments about procedural matters. In accordance with the Legislative Council's guidelines for the broadcast of proceedings, only Committee members and witnesses may be filmed or recorded. People in the public gallery should not be the primary focus of any filming or photos. In reporting the proceedings of this Committee, the media must take responsibility for what they publish or what interpretation they place on anything that is said before the Committee. The guidelines for the broadcast of proceedings are available from the Committee clerks. Any messages from audience members should be delivered through the Committee clerks. I remind everyone present to please turn off their mobile phones. I now welcome our two witnesses to this public hearing, Mr Barry and Mr Follett. As you know, you are giving evidence on your former oath or affirmation.
    [Show full text]
  • Candidates Handbook
    ~a”d~~, Handbook Election 0 Commonwealth of Australia 1996 ISBN 0 644 46520 4 This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without prior written permission from the Australian Government Publishing Service. Requests and inquiries concerning reproduction and rights should be addressed to the Manager, Commonwealth Information Services, Australian Government Publishing Service, GPO BOX 84, Canberra ACT 2601. Published by the Australian Government Publishing Service CONTENTS Abbreviations..................................................................................................................... iv Introduction.......................................................................................................................... 1 Qualifications....................................................................................................................... 2 Nomination.......................................................................................................................... 4 Thewrit.............................................................................................................................. 10 Ballotpapers..................................................................................................................... 12 Electionfunding andfinancialdisclosure.........................................................................15 Electoraloffences.............................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Australian Electoral Commission Submission Two
    AUSTRALIAN ELECTORAL COMMISSION SUBMISSION TWO TO THE INQUIRY BY THE JOINT STANDING COMMITTEE ON ELECTORAL MATTERS INTO CERTAIN ASPECTS OF THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE AUSTRALIAN ELECTORAL COMMISSION – THE NATIONAL TALLY ROOM 29 June 2007 1. Introduction 1.1 As part of its Inquiry into Certain Aspects of the Administration of the Australian Electoral Commission, the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters (JSCEM) was requested by the Special Minister of State, on 21 May 2007, “to consider whether the National Tally Room should be retained beyond the 2007 federal election”, and specifically to address: “- the continuing relevance of the National Tally Room to members of parliament, candidates, political parties, the media, and the general public; - the possible alternatives to the National Tally Room flowing from advances in computer and telecommunications technologies, such as the Australian Electoral Commission's web-based Virtual Tally Room; and - the logistics, risks and cost of providing the National Tally room.” On 25 May 2007 the Inquiry Secretary wrote to the Electoral Commissioner, advising the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) of the extension of the terms of reference of the inquiry. This submission is provided in response to that letter. 1.2 A National Tally Room (NTR) has been a feature of Australian federal elections for over 40 years, since well before the creation of the AEC, and for that reason it would be impracticable to seek to cover its full evolutionary history in detail in this submission. Instead, the submission
    [Show full text]
  • Papers on Parliament Number 66
    Elections as Rituals: Private, Graeme Orr ∗ Communal and Public Introduction—ritual and aesthetics The area that we will traverse today falls within the law of politics. As a fairly new field, the law of politics hoovers up not just electoral law, but the rules governing parliaments, parties and money in politics. It mixes constitutional law, administrative issues and political science concerns, in equal parts. For the best part of two decades, I have been exploring the law of politics. It has been fun helping found a new sub- discipline. Ten years ago I paused from the labour of wading through statutes and case law, and wrote an essay called ‘The Ritual and Aesthetic in Electoral Law’.1 The essay was an attempt at a sociological understanding of elections as events, events we experience. Ten years later I turned the little tunes in that paper into a book titled Ritual and Rhythm in Electoral Systems.2 Its title prompted one wag to ask whether I was Catholic. (I am not. As we will see, the ‘ritual’ is secular and the ‘rhythm’ has nothing to do with the Billings method and everything to do with the way elections set up the seasons of politics). Today’s talk will distil some of the flavour of that book. Beyond thinking about elections, my overall theme is the importance of thinking about public institutions and practices in terms of how we experience them, and what meanings might be embedded in their forms and patterns. On the way to this forum I was reflecting on the charms of Canberra.
    [Show full text]
  • Papers on Parliament Number 66
    Papers on Parliament Lectures in the Senate Occasional Lecture Series, and other papers Number 66 October 2016 Published and printed by the Department of the Senate Parliament House, Canberra ISSN 1031–976X (online ISSN 2206–3579) Published by the Department of the Senate, 2016 ISSN 1031–976X (online ISSN 2206–3579) Papers on Parliament is edited and managed by the Research Section, Department of the Senate. Edited by Paula Waring and Michael Sloane All editorial inquiries should be made to: Assistant Director of Research Research Section Department of the Senate PO Box 6100 Parliament House CANBERRA ACT 2600 Telephone: (02) 6277 3164 Email: [email protected] To order copies of Papers on Parliament On publication, new issues of Papers on Parliament are sent free of charge to subscribers on our mailing list. If you wish to be included on that mailing list, please contact the Research Section of the Department of the Senate at: Telephone: (02) 6277 3074 Email: [email protected] Printed copies of previous issues of Papers on Parliament may be provided on request if they are available. Past issues are available online at: http://www.aph.gov.au/pops Contents Elections as Rituals: Private, Communal and Public 1 Graeme Orr Australian Democracy and Executive Law-making: Practice and Principle (Part I) 21 Stephen Argument Australian Democracy and Executive Law-making: Practice and Principle (Part II) 71 Cheryl Saunders The Contemporary Crisis of Representative Democracy 89 Simon Tormey An Argument in Favour of Constitutional Reform 101 Bede Harris Reconciliation Action Plans—Creating Shared Value 121 Leah Armstrong The Pursuit of State Interests in the Senate 139 Paula Waring iii Contributors Graeme Orr is a Professor of Law at the University of Queensland, with special interests in the regulation of democracy, and language/symbols and their relationship to law.
    [Show full text]
  • New South Wales Legislative Council Elections 2007 Background Paper
    NSW PARLIAMENTARY LIBRARY RESEARCH SERVICE New South Wales Legislative Council Elections 2007 by Antony Green Background Paper No 1/09 RELATED PUBLICATIONS • Antony Green, NSW Legislative Council Elections 1995, NSW Parliamentary Library Research Service Background Paper 2/1996 • Antony Green, NSW Legislative Council Elections 1999, NSW Parliamentary Library Research Service Background Paper 2/2000 • Antony Green, NSW Legislative Council Elections 2003, NSW Parliamentary Research Service, Background Paper 8/2003 • Antony Green, 2007 NSW Election: Final Analysis, NSW Parliamentary Library Research Service, Background Paper 1/2008 ISSN 1325-5142 ISBN 978-0-7313-1850-6 April 2009 © 2009 Except to the extent of the uses permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means including information storage and retrieval systems, with the prior written consent from the Librarian, New South Wales Parliamentary Library, other than by Members of the New South Wales Parliament in the course of their official duties. The views expressed in this paper are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the New South Wales Parliamentary Library. New South Wales Legislative Council Elections 2007 by Antony Green NSW PARLIAMENTARY LIBRARY RESEARCH SERVICE David Clune (MA, PhD, Dip Lib), Manager ...............................................(02) 9230 2484 Gareth Griffith (BSc (Econ) (Hons), LLB (Hons), PhD), Senior Research Officer, Politics and Government / Law.........................(02)
    [Show full text]
  • Legislative Council
    PROOF New South Wales Legislative Council PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES (HANSARD) FIFTY-SIXTH PARLIAMENT FIRST SESSION WEDNESDAY 6 MAY 2015 ______ Authorised by the Parliament of New South Wales * * * PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES Corrections to Daily Proof To ensure the early publication of the Hansard pamphlet, in relation to speeches made on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday members' suggestions for corrections will be accepted only until 4 p.m. on Thursday; and suggestions for corrections to speeches delivered on Thursday and Friday will be accepted only until 12 noon on the following Monday. Corrections may be marked on a photocopy of the daily proof page and lodged at the Office of the Editor of Debates, Level 8, Parliament House. Corrections faxed to 9230 2921 should be authorised by signature and contain the name, office and telephone number of the person transmitting the correction. Corrections sent by email to [email protected], must show the date and time of the contribution requiring correction to allow identification of the debate in which it occurred. Amendments cannot be accepted over the telephone. Corrections should relate only to inaccuracies. New matter may not be introduced. Scott Fuller Editor of Debates * * * CONTENTS PAGE NO. ABORIGINAL LAND CLAIMS .......................................................................................................... 16 ADJOURNMENT ................................................................................................................................ 86 ADMINISTRATION OF THE
    [Show full text]