Uncounted Votes: Informal Voting in the House of Representatives as a Marker of Political Exclusion in Australia (original) (raw)

This article examines the implications of high levels of informal (or invalid) voting in Australian national elections using a social exclusion framework. The rate of the informal vote is an indicator of social and political exclusion with particular groups of Australians experiencing inordinate electoral disadvantage. Poorer voters, voters from non-English speaking backgrounds and those with low education levels are especially disadvantaged by factors peculiar to the Australian voting experience. We begin by exploring the character and pattern of informal voting and then canvass the technical and socioeconomic factors which explain it. We conclude by considering proposed options for reducing informality, some of which are: the abandonment of compulsory voting, major structural change to the voting system as well as ballot redesign , electoral education and community information initiatives. Changes made by the Coalition Government in 2006 to voter enrolment procedures for national elections in Australia attracted criticism for their tendency to politically exclude certain social groups, particularly young people, prisoners and the poor. 1 The introduction of more stringent identification requirements for registering to vote and the early closure of the electoral roll were particularly controversial. 2 However, more subtle and long-standing inequalities within the Australian political process are also significant in relation to political and social exclusion. One of these is the nonenrolment of a significant number of voters-particularly younger voters. 3 Another 1