Senator Steve Fielding - Leader of Family First

Steve, thanks for taking the time to deliberate on this. However, I believe the moral course of action is straightforward. Only giving citizens an hour to update their electoral details after an election is called just is not reasonable. Please vote to get it changed back to 1 week, and ensure that the maximum number of Aussie’s have the chance to vote.

Sen Fielding, how can we pretend to be a functioning Democracy if those who have turned 18 since the last election are given only an hour to register to vote?  It’s a joke.  Please do the right thing and give young people and those who have moved recently a decent amount of time to exercise their democratic right to register to vote and decide who runs this wonderful county of ours.  Thanks for reading this.

Spot on C of D!  Steve, you are clearly a fair minded bloke.  Please support our democracy, and the right to a ‘fair go”.  Allow new voters the traditional one week to sign up Steve!  Thanks mate.  :+>

Dear Steve, You may have the deciding vote on whether Australians will have a week to get on the electoral roll, or just hours after an election is called. Hundreds of thousands of Australians may miss their chance to vote this year unless you act. The AEC tells us that in 2007 only 17,208 Australians enrolled or updated their details by 8pm on the day election writs were issued (which could be the deadline this year) - compared to 423,975 in the old 7 day period in 2004. Those most affected by this are Australians who move house often, or don’t have drivers’ licenses: young families, Indigenous, migrant and poorer Australians. The Australian Electoral Commission have argued that these changes will better allow them to do their job of maintaining the electoral roll. Please support the AEC and our democracy.

Glad to see someone raise this topic. Looks like it was too much of a hot potato for Steve to feel comfortable to vote on.
So Steve: Please share with us why you WOULD want to vote to disallow almost half a million of us from voting at the next election. I can’t figure it out, you sound like such a reasonable and clued up guy on your audio interviews.

The 2 big problems as I understand it are: 18 year olds who have never voted before are going to learn that politicians don’t care about them. Those who move home are going to learn that their government doesn’t care that they’ve gone through a high stress chapter, but would rather put the boot in by taking away their vote. I just don’t see the sense is this ridiculous charade. What’s going on Steve? Why on earth did you not simply use your moment in history to vote down this ridiculously misnamed and misguided ‘Electoral Integrity Act’?

Dear Steve,

On balance, it seems to me that it is better to have more people voting than to suit the convenience of the Public Service. They are there to serve us, the public!

Please suport this Bill.

Steve

Please support the bill tand give new voters time to register.  We need to ensure that our democracy is genuine.

Senator I urge to vote against the amendment to the electoral act which gives people only the day on which an election is called to enrol or change their details on the roll. Voters and prospective voters should have at least a week to get on the roll. The only reason for this amendment must be to deny the vote to young people as the time to adjust electoral rolls between when an election is called and voting day should be more than adequate. I urge you to vote against this injustice.

Hello - making sure the voices of all citizens are heard is central to democracy - and it is socially just to put in place systems to enable people with less ease of access to participate. There are many reasons that people may need prompts and time to enrol or re-enrol: such as moving, being transitent or homeless, limited or no computer access, long work hours or multiple jobs, lower literacy or language barriers, lack of familirity with political processes, or crises that can occur in families, individuals or communities… in some situations such as where there are social, language or health, disability or mental health barriers, some people may benefit from assitance from a friend or family member, or support worker, and there needs to be time for that to happen.
Pleae make this possible: make the closing time is a week from the announcement of election to enrollment or updated details .

Dear Senator Fielding,

I’d like to add my voice to those above.  When I heard about the one-hour rule, I couldn’t believe that anything so cynical could be allowed here in Australia.  I absolutely fail to understand why it could be seen as desirable, to give a large number of Australian voters a one-hour time limit to stop whatever they’re doing and register to vote - or lose out on the democratic process altogether.  Unless maybe there’s a cynical intention to ‘catch them out’ and deliberately deny these people the right to vote? 

I implore you to vote to reinstate the one-week time limit.  As someone whose career is to uphold the democratic process - I can only hope that your conscience tells you that this is the right thing to do.

Hi Mr Fielding
I emailed you last week on this topic and since the debate has been deferred I am now addressing you on your forum. I have two sons 18 and 22. The 18 year old embraced the opportuntiy to vote in the state elections this week as did his brother,  but by the time the feds are on they may have moved house, state, country and to allow them only 1 hour to get their act together is ridiculous.  Please reinstate 1 week to allow people to get their voting information up to date prior to any election. It makes sense - you know it does!

I agree with the posts above. It is unconscionable that young and/or mobile potential voters are being denied this aspect of their citizenship through a cynical rule that makes it too hard to update enrolment in time. The Electoral Commission is a great institution, and I’m sure they can cope with a return to the former rules.

Please Senator Fielding, support Schedule 1 of this Bill. It is really important in a democracy to give everyone a fair chance to vote. We know we are all busy and there are many mportant things we put off doing till later, believing we have plenty of time. 18 yeat olds, new voters, new citizens, people who have changed address all need one week’s grace to enrol after the polls are called. Fair representative elections need us all to vote.

Dear Senator Fielding,
Do we want to be like America, albeit by another route, and end up with a marginalised, non-voting demographic?  Causing registering to vote to be more difficult has a similar effect to voluntary voting, in that it discourages those people whose lives are less stable, often that part of the population which has already suffered from policies that disenfranchise them from participating fully in their culture.  I am pleased you are thinking further on this issue, and urge you to use your balance of power role to enfranchise a wider population rather than render participating in democracy something only for the privileged.

Mr Fielding,
Please consider the busy lives of all Australians and their families. All eligible Australians should be given every opportunity to be a part of the voting process and in turn, a part of a democratic nation. Please request that the Electoral and Referendum Amendment Bill 2010 allows all registering and reregistering Australians at least a week to ensure they are part of the democratic process.
Regards.

I have to agree with most who have posted on this topic.  One week to update electoral details seems fair and reasonable.  One hour seems quite the opposite.  I really hope that during the next Senate session you are able to vote to pass these bills to allow as many people as possible a say in the governing of our country.  For the average person in the street (like me) voting is the only power we have over our political future - and however small that power may seem compared to the power held by politicians and governments, we need to do all we can to encourage people to use their right to vote.  Surely giving people seven days either to enrol or to change details is not too much to ask.  Please do the right and fair thing when these crucial bills come down to your vote - Senator Fielding we are relying on you.