More than 19,000 Parkes residents could be hit with a $20 fine for not voting in the 2019 federal election, a collective potential punishment of $382,100.
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According to Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) statistics this morning, a total of 90,534 people in Parkes cast a vote by any means at any time, whether pre-poll, from elsewhere or at a booth on the day.
However, with 109,639 voters enrolled, that means 19,105 people could soon receive a letter from the AEC asking them to explain why they didn't participate.
"You will receive a letter from the AEC if, according to our records, you did not vote at a recent federal election or by-election," the website states.
"If you did vote, you should advise the AEC and provide details by the due date. If you didn't vote, you will need to provide a valid and sufficient reason why, or pay the $20 penalty."
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According to the AEC, what's deemed a suitable reason is "a matter for the relevant DRO [divisional returning officer] to assess on the merits on each individual case, in accordance with the law as previously interpreted by the courts".
However, such reasons could include sickness, a natural disaster or an accident - or "where an intending voter on his way to the poll was diverted to save life, or to prevent crime, or to assist at some great disaster".
We're pretty ordinary
It turns out, though, that when it comes to who's voting or not - and how seriously or carefully - it appears that Parkes voters are pretty middle-of-the-road.
The AEC statistics show we don't stand out for better or worse when it comes to how many people voted informally or not at all.
At 82.57 per cent, Parkes' turnout was close to the Australian average of 79.70pc.
The highest was in Braddon, Tasmania, at 90.33pc and the lowest in Macnamara, Victoria, at 66.40pc.
For Parkes, this was a 9.38pc lower voter turnout than in the previous election, but still close to the national trend of a 11.31pc drop in turnout.
Macnamara also suffered the biggest drop in turnout, at 19.88pc down.
The division of Fowler in the NSW had the highest rate of informal votes at 13.16pc, while Higgins, Victoria, had the lowest at 2.01pc.
But Parkes, again, was close to the national average of 5.43pc, at 6pc of votes cast informally.
That meant that 5435 of the 90,534 votes cast couldn't be included in the official count, whether due to a mistake or a deliberate act.
Carolyn Millet
Based at The Northern Daily Leader, Tamworth, and Namoi Valley Independent, Gunnedah. Covering general news and features on community, council, arts, business, health, education, entertainment and rural matters.
Based at The Northern Daily Leader, Tamworth, and Namoi Valley Independent, Gunnedah. Covering general news and features on community, council, arts, business, health, education, entertainment and rural matters.
