Page 1006 - Week 04 - Tuesday, 19 April 1994
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MR STEVENSON (10.27): I move:
Page 49, lines 20 to 22, proposed new subsection 127(2), omit the subsection, substitute the following subsection:
"(2) An elector who is entitled to vote at an election is not entitled to cast an ordinary vote under Division 2, or a declaration vote under section 131, except at the polling place nearest the elector's address.".
At the moment people in the ACT or people visiting the ACT can vote at every single polling booth in the ACT. It is easy. The reason why it is easy is that we have taken no precautions to prevent people voting at every polling booth in the ACT. Let us look at what happens. What happens is that you simply go along to a polling booth, early and often, and present yourself to the polling booth officer. The officer asks, "Have you voted before on this day?". You say, "No", while trying to keep a straight face. The officer also asks whether you are the person whose name he or she reads out, and once again, while trying to keep a straight face, you say "Yes". At that time the officer gives you a ballot-paper and you vote. Then away you go to the next one, and the next one, and so on. It is possible that you may be recognised sooner or later. If you come from another area it would be less likely. Nevertheless, this is possible and it is easy, and on something that is as vitally important as voting it should not be allowed.
I have moved this amendment as a result of a survey. I mentioned earlier that we surveyed 507 people. The particular question asked in this case was:
To restrict the possibility of people voting at more than one polling booth, should voters be required to cast a postal vote (sealed in an envelope with the person's name and address on the outside and with confidentiality preserved when opening) unless they vote at the polling booth nearest their home? Yes. No. Not concerned. Not enough information.
I could have called it a declaration vote, but that would not have helped clear up the matter and would have made it more difficult, so the term "postal vote", which is even better than "absentee vote", was selected. The results of that survey were that 55 per cent said "Yes", 33 per cent said "No", 6 per cent said "Not concerned", and 6 per cent said "Not enough information".
The majority of people in Canberra believe that it is a good idea. I am not sure why they believe that it is a good idea. I think it is a good idea. We should prevent this from happening. Consider policing and crime prevention. You are not necessarily saying that someone did it; you are saying that it is a good idea to make sure that people do not do it. It is a very good idea to make sure that people do not vote more than once at the one election, and we have not done so. There are certain things that have been done; but the system is so wide that you could drive a Pajero through it, as someone did at the Federal Parliament. It is important that we do something.
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