Telephone voting for the 2016 federal election

Voters who are blind or have low vision will be able to cast a vote in secret by telephone from any location, including their own homes.

Register
Voters must first register to cast their vote by telephone. Registration will be available from Monday 13 June 2016. When a voter calls to register, they will be asked questions to enable a check of the electoral roll, and will also asked to choose a PIN. Once registered, they will be sent a registration number by email, SMS, postal mail, or through a phone call.

Call to vote
Telephone voting will be available from Tuesday 14 June 2016. When voting, electors will not need to give their name. Their registration number and PIN will be used to mark their name off the electoral roll while protecting their privacy. It is important that voters do not forget their registration details.

Vote
A call centre voting assistant will record the voter’s preferences on the ballot papers. The vote will be secret and a second voting assistant will ensure that the vote is recorded according to the voter’s intention.

The vote remains secret because the call centre voting assistants will not know the voter’s name and address. Once the vote is complete, the voting assistant will place the ballot papers into a secure ballot box.

Information for electors with disability
Updated: 9 May 2016

A range of information and services is available to help electors with disability to cast their vote for the 2016 federal election.

Access for people with disability
Polling places with disabled access will be shown on the website when available. The polling places identify the level of accessibility (full, assisted or none).

You can ask someone to help you vote. Polling place staff are trained to assist you, or you can nominate any person (except a candidate) to assist. This person could be a friend, relative or a party worker. If voters do not nominate someone, then the polling official in charge will provide assistance.

The assistant reads the contents of the ballot paper and then completes the ballot paper according to the voter’s preferences.

There are also special arrangements at polling places for people who cannot get out of their car. If the polling official in charge is satisfied that you cannot enter the polling place, someone will bring the ballot papers to you.

Telephone voting
Voters who are blind or have low vision will be able to cast a vote in secret by telephone from any location, including their own homes.

Telephone voting

Apply for a postal vote

An assistant may complete the ballot papers and envelope, but the voter must sign the envelope or make a mark as a signature.

Your official guide to the 2016 federal election
Your official guide to the 2016 federal election is not yet available.

A printed version of the official guide will be delivered to every household in Australia. It provides information on when and where to vote, assistance available at polling places and how to vote correctly. The official guide will be available in accessible formats including e-text, large print and audio MP3. Electors will also be able to request to have a braille, DAISY or audio CD sent to them.

Candidate lists
The list of candidates for the House of Representatives and Senate is not yet available.

Lists of candidates for the House of Representatives (in each division) and the Senate (in each state and territory) will be available by request in e-text, large print PDFs, MP3 or braille formats.

Publications:

Easy English Guides

A guide to enrolling and voting

Voting is different this federal election

Contacts
For more information contact 13 26 26. If you are deaf or have a hearing or speech impairment, contact us through the National Relay Service (NRS):

TTY users phone 133 677 then ask for 13 23 26
Speak and Listen users phone 1300 555 727 then ask for 13 23 26
Internet relay users connect to the NRS then ask for 13 23 26

Telephone voting for the WA Senate election for people who are Blind or vision impaired

Today, the Governor for Western Australia issued the writ for a Senate election for Western Australia for Saturday 5th April.

The Blind Low Vision telephone voting call centre will be available for eligible Western Australian electors for this event. The number to call will again be 1800 913 993.

Registration period: 8:30am to 5:30pm (WST) Monday 17th March to Friday 4th April

8:00am to 12noon (WST) Saturday 5th April

Voting Period: 8:30am to 5:30pm (WST) Tuesday 18th March to Friday 4th April

8:00am to 6:00pm (WST) Saturday 5th April

Please note that the centre will operate to Australian Western Standard Time.

The Official Guide to the by-election and Candidate List will be made available to electors in a range of accessible formats from the AEC website or sent direct to electors on request. The AEC has engaged Vision Australia to provide a range of communication services to BLV audiences enrolled across the state of Western Australia.

FYI: A total of 154 registrations and 145 votes were taken through the Blind Low Vision call centre from electors in Western Australia at the 2013 federal election.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any queries.

Regards
Meredith Hawke
Project Officer
Voter Services Delivery Section Elections Branch
Australian Electoral Commission
T: (02) 6271 4611
F: (02) 6293 7613