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GetUp wins online enrolment case

Activist group GetUp has won its Federal Court bid to allow voters to enrol online, after the Australian Electoral Commission shut down the organisation's ozenrol.com website.

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2 min read

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Updated

By Shalailah Medhora

Source: SBS


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Activist group GetUp has won its Federal Court bid to allow voters to enrol online, after the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) shut down the organisation's ozenrol.com website.

The website allowed voters to register online, and use their mouse or trackpad to sign the forms electronically.

The website came online in July, but taken down shortly after it was launched.

Sam McLean from GetUp says the ruling means Australians can register online to vote for the first time.

He says thousands of supporters of GetUp had backed the bid, offering both in-principle and material support for the case.

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Mr McLean says he's hopeful online registration will come into play in time for the Victorian state election later this year.

He says there has been no comment from the AEC as yet on the roll-out of the changes to voter registration, but says the "AEC have indicated in the past that they support online registration", but were unsure of the legality of implementing it.

Prior to the ruling, GetUp National Director Simon Sheikh said the organisation believed online enrolment was valid under the Electronic Transactions Act, and urged the AEC to make registering available over the Internet.

"We believe that had the AEC made online enrolment available this election, tens or hundreds of thousands more Australians might be able to vote this election," Mr Sheikh said in a written statement.

"In the 21st Century, we can pay our taxes online, do our banking online and even apply for a passport online; we should be able to enrol to vote online. It's unacceptable for outdated bureaucracy to get in the way of Australians participating in our democracy."

The lobby group recently won its High Court case to have amendments to the electoral roll repealed.

The amendment, which gave new voters only until 8pm on the day the writs of election were issued to register, had come into play during the Howard years.

The High Court ruling meant an additional 100,000 Australians who weren't previously eligible to vote can now cast their ballots on August 21.


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