ACT Greens Leader Shane Rattenbury: “These are really interesting questions of how we balance how to run a good democracy.” Photo: Ian Bushnell.
The primacy and tradition of election day are under threat from electoral changes such as early voting and the 100-metre rule at polling booths, Greens Leader Shane Rattenbury has warned.
Mr Rattenbury also questioned the value of roadside corflutes in election campaigns, given the work involved and vandalism that took place.
He was speaking at Wednesday’s declaration of the poll at the Legislative Assembly where he raised these issues in relation to how the 2028 ACT election might be run.
“I was intrigued to see over the last couple of days a national discussion starting about how long a pre-poll voting period we should have,” he told the event.
“And I think these are really interesting questions of how to run a good democracy, how we enable people to participate effectively and what the community expectations are around these matters.”
In both the ACT and Queensland elections, about half the electorates voted early, with distinct differences between the pre-poll and election-day votes.
In Queensland, election night commentators wondered what might have happened without early voting, which favoured the LNP, and if the campaign had gone another week.
In the ACT, pre-polls pointed to a swing to the Canberra Liberals but the election day votes dashed the Opposition’s hopes.
Pre-polls in Queensland came in after the same-day votes while in the ACT they were the first to be counted.
Mr Rattenbury said the Greens did not have a position on early voting, which he said was important for participation but could also mean voters deciding without all the facts that can emerge in the last two weeks of a campaign.
He also worried about what could happen to election day itself.
“Election day is an important part of democracy and there’s a real sense of communities coming together at voting booths,” Mr Rattenbury said.
“You’ve got the sausage stall and the cake stall and all these kind of things that do create a sense of community around election day.
“I’m probably a bit of a sentimentalist on that. It’s probably not everybody else’s key consideration.
“But these are the factors we need to weigh up about convenience versus making sure we get a good political outcome and a good sense of people being well informed when they go to the booth.”
Mr Rattenbury said it was a debate that should be had.
He said nobody seemed happy with party canvassers not being allowed within 100 metres of a polling booth, saying they should either be closer, as under the federal rules, or not be there at all.
“It’s kind of almost this weird in-between rule where people are so far away from any voting place that it can feel quite demoralising for the volunteers and the community is confused about whether their electoral information is available or not,” Mr Rattenbury said.
He backed operating under the federal rule and believed voters did not view it as harassment going into to vote but a legitimate way to source information, saying some people did not make up their minds until they were in the booth.
“So there’s a question there: should they be actually be allowed to access information at that point?” Mr Rattenbury said.
The Greens don’t rely on roadside corflutes and Mr Rattenbury also questioned whether they were an effective campaigning tool.
He also said the other parties were frustrated at the effort it took to put them out and the vandalism they attracted.
“We again need to think carefully about these things and come out with a sensible option that doesn’t disenfranchise people,” Mr Rattenbury said.
“I think some of the smaller groups do think it’s an important way to get their name recognition out there versus the community dislike of it and the seemingly wasteful effort that goes into it.”
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