Same-sex marriage ballots are being sent to the wrong addresses

Sep 17 2017
Written by Meka Beresford

Same-sex marriage ballot (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) began to post out same-sex marriage surveys this week but some ballots are being sent to the wrong addresses.

The mix-up comes as it appears that a number of people failed to update their electoral details after moving out a property.

(Photo by SAEED KHAN/AFP/Getty Images)

Over 800,000 people updated their details in the enrollment period before the survey started earlier this week.

However, it appears that many people left out-of-date addresses on the system means that some people are receiving extra ballots to their addresses.

A spokesperson for ABS said that the best case scenario for people finding extra ballots is to return the ballots to the sender.

“Don’t open it, don’t touch it, return to sender,” the spokesperson said.

However, the spokesperson said that if you were to know the person whose ballot you received, e.g. an old roommate, it is viable for you to contact them and ask how they want to proceed.

If they want you to fill out the ballot paper then this is legal under the “trusted authorised person” system.

(Getty)

They added: “It’s completely a matter between the truster and the trustee.

“There’s no documentary requirement — it’s entirely incumbent on the person to say, ‘Yes, I trust you to do it’ and that’s it.”

ABS also confirmed that if someone has moved but believe their old address is still on the electoral register then they can contact the ABS to have a postal survey sent to their current address.

However, they stressed that it is the responsibility of the voter to ensure their details are up to date.

“In light of estimates that perhaps 40,000-50,000 Australians move every week, the roll is dynamic and constantly changing,” they said.