The Government has announced that voters will no longer be able to enrol on election day.
From now on, people must enrol or update their details before advance voting starts, 13 days ahead of election day.
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith said same-day enrolments caused too many delays and made it hard to count votes on time. In the last election, it took three weeks to finish the final count. “If we don’t fix this, it could take even longer,” he said.
The new law says voters must be enrolled by midnight on the Sunday before advance voting begins. Advance voting will last at least 12 days in every election, giving officials more time to process special votes early.
Other changes include automatic updates to people’s enrolment addresses using data from government records. However, new voters will still need to enrol themselves.
The law also removes the need for postal enrolments, since fewer people use mail services now. Plus, offering free food, drinks, or entertainment near voting stations will now be banned, with a fine of up to $10,000 for breaking the rule.
The law will also continue to ban prisoners from voting and raises the donation reporting limit from $5,000 to $6,000, adjusting for inflation.
