Thursday 25 February 2010,
The Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters tabled its report on the inquiry into the NSW Parliamentary Electorates and Elections Amendment (Automatic Enrolment) Bill 2009 entitled Inquiry into the implications of the Parliamentary Electorates and Elections Amendment (Automatic Enrolment) Act 2009 (NSW) for the conduct of Commonwealth elections.
The two provisions of the Bill on which the Committee reported potential Commonwealth electoral effects were
Automatic enrolment provisions and
Provisions enabling eligible persons to enrol and cast a provisional vote on polling day
AUSTRALIAN ELECTORAL COMMISSION SUBMISSION
The Australian Electoral Commission made a submission to this inquiry of which the chief reccomendations were
4.1 The AEC recommends that the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 be amended to allow the AEC to automatically enrol electors on the basis of data provided by trusted agencies.
4.2 The AEC recommends that the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 be amended to allow for electors to enrol on election day and cast provisional votes on production of suitable evidence of identity to the AEC.
4.3 The AEC recommends that complementary amendments be made to the Referendum (Machinery Provisions) Act 1984 as appropriate.