What are eligible Australians
Dear Australian Electoral Commission,
There are many references to "eligible Australians" in recent AEC communications. I'm trying to find information on what AEC means by that because it's not immediately apparent in material published by AEC.
Specifically I would like to find information on which Australians AEC considers as eligible and which Australians are not eligible. Also any information on whether all eligible Australians are considered as electors or not by the AEC would be helpful.
Yours faithfully,
Sophia Wrightman
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Locutus Sum left an annotation ()
For the reasons explained in another annotation (https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/w...) this request must be rejected for one or the other of the following reasons: invalid as a request under s 15 (http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/c... alternatively under s 4 (“Definition of document”, because the documents are publicly available and maintained for reference purposes) or s 12 (1)(c) because copies of the relevant law are available for purchase (http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/c...).
It is naturally also free at AustLII or Comlaw (http://www.comlaw.gov.au).
Who is an “eligible person” is not related to the opinion of the Australian Electoral Commission. There are many documents on the website for the Australian Electoral Commission (http://www.aec.gov.au) that can be helpful for a full understanding of the electoral process in Australia but the basic statement of who is eligible to enrol to vote, and who must vote, is in the Commonwealth Electoral Act (http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/c...).
An Act of the parliament is not always easy to read but there are many books that can explain how to do it. With some little practice a person can get a modest skill.
Sophia Wrightman left an annotation ()
LS - Your suggestions are well placed for a government public relations role, so it's very helpful having that point of view. If one needs to know which requests the government warrants particular attention and time for instance, its good then to have your input. So again, thanks for your perspective.
Also, please refer to my response: https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/w...
Regarding "eligible Australians" - it is a term widely now used by the AEC, it wasn't before 2010. Given that, it would be "not even wrong" to believe an internal process that led to its approval would be documented in some format. I am interested in seeing these records. A department obligated by the FOI Act would be required to make that happen.
Locutus Sum left an annotation ()
It is not very obvious to a Right to Know user, but this request was answered by the Australian Electoral Commission in another email thread. The letter from Mr Paul Pirani, chief legal officer of the Commission, made for a reply to the request called "Who owns the right to vote" (https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/w...) includes the answer to this question.
I quote from the 20 December 2013 email (https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/w...) and the 23 December 2013 email (https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/w... "The qualifications of a person to be on the Commonwealth electoral Roll appear in section 93 of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918."
A person can read Section 93 of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 in this link for the full answer: http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/c...
Unfortunately for the organization of the questions on the Right to Know website, the AEC has responded in a single email thread to two questions that were send in two separate threads. I should have recognized that it is so when I made my annotation on 22 December 2013.
Sophia Wrightman left an annotation ()
I am happy to withdraw this request if it is established as fact that is vexatious, if not established in any reasonable time, I ask the admin to change status - thank you.
To clarify, I ask for documentation or information of the AEC what the AEC would possess by using the term "eligible Australians". I would like to know what the AEC considers as eligible Australians and what conditions are Australians excluded from being eligible.