Elections in emergency situations: Are we ready?

THE IMPACT of natural disasters and COVID-19 in 2020 has affected lives all over Australia, and now the Parliament’s Electoral Matters Committee has launched an inquiry into the future conduct of elections in emergency situations.

Committee Chair Senator James McGrath said this year’s COVID-19 pandemic in particular had underscored that emergency situations can and do arise during election periods.

"From health pandemics to natural disasters, international conflict or civil unrest, we want to find out whether our electoral law and the Australian Electoral Commission are as prepared as possible for unusual events or disruptions in the future," Senator McGrath said.

"We have a healthy and secure electoral system but we need to make sure that in all scenarios barriers are identified early and issues worked through before they are needed so that everyone can have their say."

The Committee would particularly like to hear from constitutional experts; emergency management services; cyber-threat experts; Commonwealth, State and Territory governments and agencies; disability and inclusion advocates; Indigenous peak bodies and voters; and electoral commissions.

"We’ve seen from the Eden-Monaro by-election, as well as elections in Queensland, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory, that measures are already being put in place to deal with COVID-19," Senator McGrath said.

"I’m very interested in taking the lessons learned from these examples, as well as next month’s state election in Queensland, and seeing how they might apply on a federal level."

As part of the inquiry, the Committee will examine the short and long term impacts of unexpected, rapidly developing external events that could substantially interrupt normal voting, election administration or campaigning, including contingency plans for an increased demand in alternative voting options.

The Committee invites written submissions addressing any or all of the terms of reference. Information on how to make a submission may be found at the following link. Submissions are requested by November 13, 2020.

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