Seventeen million Australians have registered to vote in the upcoming federal election. We have an independent body to conduct elections in Australia, the EC or the Australian Electoral Commission. The Australian Election Commission has confirmed that all eligible voters can play a role in forming the federal government. This week’s Settlement Guide covers how to vote in elections.

Important aspects:

• Constituency and polling station information will be provided on the EC’s website
• Voting can be done in a variety of ways, including in advance voting, by post and by telephone, on and before election day
• Voting information is provided in many other languages, including Bengali and English
• The EC will help those in need to vote through a telephone translator

The Election Commission of Australia (EC) expects around one million voters to go to the polls every hour on election day. Voting is compulsory for all citizens whose names are on the voter list.

EC spokesman Jess Lilly said everyone must vote in their respective constituencies, not outside.

The EC will operate more than a thousand polling stations on election day. Local schools and churches are more commonly used as polling stations. All related information can be found on the EC’s website.

Evan Ekin-Smith, another spokesman for the EC, said that instructions and other assistance would be provided to voters in different languages ​​at each polling station.

The EC’s mobile voting team will go to residential service centers and remote areas to collect votes so that not a single voter is excluded from participating in the election.

Voters who are unable to go to the polls on election day will be able to vote in other ways.

Ms Lilly said that the application for postal ballot papers can be made through the EC website after the announcement of the election.

Because of Covid, those who remain in isolation will be able to vote using the EC’s telephone voting system. Details will be known after the announcement of the election.

Those who will be in another state on election day will also be able to vote by post or by going to a polling station in another state.

It is possible to vote even outside of Australia. Instructions are available on the EC’s website. This site has different voting methods for each person considering their own situation. Some Australian High Commissions abroad also serve as temporary polling stations.

When it comes to voting, it is often seen that people from different political parties are distributing various information about voting outside the center. “I want to convey that I recommend for all not to get confused from them,” said William Bowie, an election analyst.

In federal elections you will vote to elect your local representative.

Voters will be given two ballot papers, one green and the other white.

Using the green ballot paper, someone from your constituency can be voted as a representative of the House of Representatives. This representative will then join the lower house of Parliament. William Bowie said the House of Representatives has a total of 151 seats to represent each constituency.

The next prime minister will be the leader of the winning political party or coalition.

To vote in the green ballot, you have to write ‘1’ next to the most preferred candidate, then ‘2’ next to the second preferred candidate, thus filling in the order of preference in all the boxes.

White ballot papers are used to elect one of the six seats in the Senate, also known as the Upper House. You must vote to elect a senator from your own state or territory. William Bowie said the Senate voting system is a bit different.

White ballot papers tend to be much larger in size because all state candidates have to be included there.

This voting system is called ‘preferential voting’ or preferential voting. William Bowie said it could play a more effective role in counting votes by casting votes in the order of preference.

Every voter must ensure that all voting instructions are followed properly. If for some reason the ballot paper is not filled in properly, your vote may be considered as ‘Informal Vote’ or ‘Canceled’.

For example, if an informal vote is marked with a tick or cross instead of a number on the ballot box, or if there is something written in it that would make it possible to identify the voter, these will be counted as an informal vote.

Voting is compulsory for all citizens. If you fail to vote for any reason, the EC will check your situation and consider whether it is due to unavoidable reasons. For example, the EC thinks that many citizens living abroad may not be able to vote for good reason.

EC spokesman Evan Ikin-Smith said there could be fines for failing to vote.

However, it is not money but the loss of the right to vote that results in the loss of the opportunity to form one’s own government. So, it is better to vote after knowing the correct information after doing good research.

For voting information and instructions visit aec.gov.au or call 13 23 26