Getting to the booth wasn’t made easy for everyone

Who is facing challenges when voting in the Voice to Parliament referendum? 

The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) engaged in community consultation in regional and remote Australia as part of it’s public education campaign for the Voice to Parliament referendum.

In an AEC Media Release, Australian Electoral Commissioner Tom Rogers said a key part of the AEC’s role in upholding Australia’s proud democratic traditions is to enable participation.

‘We’re actively out in communities continuing to consult and communicate on how best to facilitate voting that is tailored to a community’s particular needs and circumstances.’

No-one knew it was coming, and when they arrived no-one knew it was there.

In this article by Crickey from their trip to the Tanami desert in the Northern Territory, polling booths in Laramba and Yuelamu communities were not pre-advertised outside of the AEC website.

The pop-up polling booths in these towns didn't come with AEC materials like signage to tell people where to vote, or even an announcement to locals when they were in town for six hours to cast their vote.

Luritja woman Anne-Marie Walker, the Community Development Program case manager for Laramba, told Crikey she found out at 9.15am on the day-of 9am-3pm remote voter service, that the AEC was in Laramba to run a referendum vote. 

Walker told AEC officials many local mob were away on sorry business, off at a sports carnival or back in town. Sourced from the Crikey report:

‘The response from the AEC official, witnessed by Crikey and ICTV, was blunt: “I work for Centrelink. I know they’ll come here. They want their mail and they want their money.”’

The only visual cues and information provided in the community was signage by Yes23 volunteers, who were “grilled” on whether their sign had proper authorisation.

National Indigenous Times reports in Naiuyu, three hours south of Darwin, that some community members missed out as they were unaware early polling in their community closed after one day of operation.

A Townsville Bulletin article reports Rural North Queenslanders missed the chance to vote in the referendum due to lack of communication from the AEC. The article includes an interview with Senator Susan McDonald:

‘She said the AEC did not receive a vote in Stamford, in the Flinders Shire, but was able to receive 10 votes in Eromanga, Quilpie, after a local saw the booth, asked about it, and rounded up people by text message.’

AEC acknowledges turnout in remote areas varies due to size, the level of campaign awareness and engagement and what is happening in communities on the day. The AEC said information has been distributed in more than 20 First Nations languages with a targeted approach to alert local communities. Tom Rogers told the National Indigenous Times:

‘This has been underway for some time as well, with more than 140 referendum education sessions run in remote communities around Australia and partnerships with local Indigenous organisations to educate community members about the process.’

Whilst the AEC engaged in a significant undertaking to roll out the Voice referendum in regional and remote areas, not all communities were equally affected. 

Crikey journalists note the absence of local interpreters outside and inside the polling booth at Ti Tree Station.

The AEC decided this year to not embed First Nations interpreters into remote voter service teams, despite having done this in previous polling stations. Instead, the AEC would provide day-of onboarding of interpreters in the community. 

AEC Northern Territory commissioner Geoff Bloom told Crikey that training the day-of interpreters would take 15 minutes, including filling in bank details and their tax file number. Their job, once employed, was to deliver AEC messaging in language.

The AEC's awareness of the referendum includes announcements via radio, TV, SMS, social media platforms and notice boards.

In this article on the mobile polls in the remote community of Pia Wadjarri in Western Australia, The Guardian spoke to Kylie Simpson, a cultural adviser and Wadjarri language teacher at the remote school.

‘Everyone who was eligible to vote got to do it.’

In Pia Wadjarri, she said many rely on word of mouth from family, friends, local businesses and social media to get the word out about the referendum and the voice, rather than official videos, pamphlets or flyers.

‘People from out here wouldn’t have had access to any information like that.’

People in remote communities aren’t the only ones facing challenges to casting a vote.

Recently, the ABC covered Ms Davidson's experience trying to cast her vote at a pre-polling station in Wagga Wagga. The station was incorrectly marked as “unimpeded step-free access” on the AEC’s website. Upon arrival, Ms Davidson was unable to enter in her wheelchair and had to cast her vote from her car. 

 ‘I felt really lesser and it was a bit of an undignified experience,’ she said. 

‘Wheelchair users are familiar with the lack of accessibility, but when it comes to voting it should be a given.’

For people in hospitalised settings, a pandemic policy to prevent the risk of Covid infections has stopped mobile voting teams from entering hospitals.

This article by The Guardian 'Electoral commission decision not to send mobile voting teams into hospitals condemned,’ spoke to Australian Medical Association president Steve Robson.

Robson expressed his concern that patients and medical staff may not be aware mobile polling will not be available. He was also not aware the change had been made permanent and says people unexpectedly hospitalised could ‘face major challenges in having their vote accepted’.

An AEC spokesperson told The Guardian that mobile voting teams would not visit hospitals because ‘this has been predominantly servicing hospital staff who can access other voting services when not on shift.

‘Hospital patients who are long term can apply for a postal vote and people who are in hospital for a short stay close to referendum day will have either already voted or are in a serious situation where voting isn’t their priority.’

Robson concluded: 

‘I appreciate everything that the AEC is doing and recognise the practical difficulties of having teams in hospitals around the country. That said, it is such an important vote the commission has a clear responsibility to make sure hospital staff are aware of their voting options – I am sure many will be passionate about this issue.’

Ruby Wheeler