Over 90,000 new names have been added to the electoral roll as Australian rush to ensure that they will be able to take part in the postal survey on marriage equality.
The deadline for enrollments closed at ten o’clock last night and the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) has confirmed that there was a huge number of people added to the roll.
Over a million changes were made the roll over the last fortnight as people updated their address and details to ensure they are included in the government’s large scale opinion survey.
In the lead up to the enrollment deadline advocates on both sides of the debate attended football games, stalked out trains stations and door knocked houses, encouraging people to make sure they were correctly registered.
Celebrities including Stephen Fry and Ellen DeGeneres posted messages on social media urging people to log on to the AEC and double check their details were correct. While staff in cafes and nightclubs, armed with iPads, encouraged patrons to engage with the process.
As soon as the AEC has finished processing all the transactions they’ll be sending a list of names and addresses of over 16 million Australians to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Silent voters, whose addresses are not included in the roll, will have their survey forms sent to them by the AEC, rather than the ABS.
The process, which is expected to cost $122 million, will not commence until the High Court hears to legal challenges about the legality of the process.
OIP Staff
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