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Electoral commission warns over Nats texts

The NSW Electoral Commission has issued a warning to voters concerning a Nationals website that asks people for their personal details.

Unmarked text messages from the NSW Nationals asking people to hand over their personal information to potentially skip voting lines has prompted a warning from the electoral commission.

The Nationals-authorised website ownyourvote.com.au asks people to enter their name, email, postcode and phone number to discover if they're eligible to vote online.

A link to the website was recently distributed to voters via a text message which states: "The NSW State Election is on March 23rd. You could save the hassle and register to vote online today by visiting ownyourvote.com.au".

The website is coloured blue and red and does not have any Nationals insignia or colours on it. But a message at the bottom of the page notes it's authorised by the party.

The NSW Electoral Commission on Friday issued a statement saying it was aware of text messages being distributed regarding the iVote technology linked to ownyourvote.com.au.

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"The NSW Electoral Commission does not operate nor endorse the website or these text messages," it said.

"Voters should be aware that any personal information they provide on this website is not provided to the NSW Electoral Commission and is not covered by the NSW Electoral Commission's privacy policy."

When asked by AAP what the party does with the personal information collected via the website, NSW Nationals state director Ross Caddell said the page was "100 per cent compliant with the rules and spirit" of the electoral commission.

"Living such a distance away from polling booths can discourage our young people from exercising their right to vote and the NSW Nationals make no apology for highlighting every means available for people to exercise that right," Mr Caddell said in a statement.

A Facebook page with the name Own Your Vote has been sharing news articles concerning corruption probes into Labor, the benefits of coal and why independent parties won't be as relevant at the next election.

Voters are eligible to register for iVote if they don't live within 20 kilometres of a voting centre, can't read or write, are disabled or will be out of the state at the time of the election, according to the electoral commission.


2 min read

Published

Source: AAP


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