How the Australian Electoral Commission is preparing for the Federal Election

While the Prime Minister is yet to set an election date, the Australian Electoral Commission is well and truly in election mode.

Transcript

00:00Not even the Australian Electoral Commission knows when election day will be, but time

00:07is ticking and preparations are well and truly underway.

00:10This year will be the biggest federal election yet, with more than 18 million Australians

00:15set to cast their vote.

00:17Australia wide, there'll be more than 7,000 polling places and 500 early voting centres.

00:23If you find a trip to Officeworks overwhelming, well, spare a thought for the AEC.

00:27They'll be printing 25,000 copies of the electoral roll, 55 million ballot papers and

00:33distributing a quarter of a million pencils.

00:36The Northern Territory will have the biggest remote voter service in the country, with

00:4024 teams visiting 200 locations, including town camps.

00:46Our remote voter service offering is the biggest that we've ever delivered.

00:50And part of that is staying longer in locations, part of it is about offering polling day services

00:56in communities, which we really haven't done a lot of in the past.

01:00Around 94% of eligible Territorians are enrolled to vote, slightly below the national rate

01:05of 98%.

01:07And while Indigenous enrolment figures are the highest they've ever been, at 88% the

01:12AEC says there's still significant work to be done.

01:15Adding to the complexity, the Commission hasn't delivered a remote voting schedule during

01:19a wet season since 1996.

01:22And while Election Day remains a mystery, it's possible it could happen in early April,

01:27with road access posing a significant challenge.

01:30And they've told us that, so we can't get in, and we're looking at alternative arrangements.

01:33But the other critical thing, as I said, was are people still in those smaller locations?

01:38So now it's all eyes on the Prime Minister to reveal that much-anticipated election date,

01:43but the AEC says they'll be ready when he does.