Callum Clayton-Dixon refused to vote earlier this year and the ECQ issued a notice that he had committed an offence with a $174 fine.
“I have never voted. I’m 20 now, so I haven’t voted in two elections, the state (Queensland) and federal elections,” he told SBS News.
In a statutory declaration last month, Mr Clayton-Dixon wrote to the commission that, “I did not vote in the Queensland State General Election held 31 January 2015 because it is my religious obligation, as a member of the Anaiwan Aboriginal tribe not to participate in Australian elections”.
Electoral commissioner Walter van der Merwe in a letter dated 5 November responded saying “as a result of the information provided, the Electoral Commission of Queensland withdraws from acting under the State Penalties Enforcement Act 1999 in relation to the alleged offence”.
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“No further action on this matter is required.”
The Queensland Electoral Act in section 186 (1a) states, “If an elector believes it to be part of the elector’s religious duty not to vote at an election, that is a valid and sufficient excuse for failing to vote at the election”.
The Australian Electoral Commission’s website says “Under s 245(14) of the Electoral Act or s 45(13A) of the Referendum Act the fact that an elector believes it to be a part of his or her religious duty to abstain from voting constitutes a valid and sufficient reason for not voting”.
Mr Clayton-Dixon said he was automatically enrolled when he attended high school on the Gold Coast and said other Aboriginal people have also avoided being fined on religious grounds.
“To me it’s defacto recognition of our status as a distinct people and our right, as a distinct people, not to participate in a political system that has been imposed on our people and our land. One we never consented too,” he said.
“This will save a lot of time and money for blackfellas paying fines for something they don’t believe in.
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“When we look at religion, spirituality, culture tradition, customary law, self-governance. All those, when it comes to Aboriginal society tie together,” he said.
“Essentially it would be disrespectful for me and it would breach my customary obligation as an Anaiwan man to participate in elections on someone else’s country and vote for a non-Aboriginal person to speak on behalf of that country.”
Mr Clayton-Dixon was enrolled to vote in the Queensland electorate of Mermaid Beach but now lives on country in New South Wales.
“My country is now commonly known as New England Tablelands and the city of Armidale,” he said.
The ECQ said in a statement to SBS News "voting at Queensland electoral events is compulsory for electors”.
“Due to privacy sanctions the Electoral Commission Queensland is unable to discuss an individual elector’s circumstances or the correspondence issued. However, the letter … is consistent with a notice the Commission issues when the decision to withdraw an infringement is communicated.
“For the 2015 State general election, 1379 electors (less than 1 per cent of electors who didn’t vote) have advised the Commission that they did not vote due to their religious beliefs.”
