Australian citizens are legally entitled and indeed required to vote at federal elections, provided they are 18 or older, have not been convicted of treason, are not serving a prison term of more than five years and are ‘capable of understanding the nature and significance of voting’ (which rules out some people suffering from mental illness): Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 (Cth) s 93.
2.
HornMichael, Social and Democratic Exclusion: Giving Voice to the Homeless, Hanover (November 2001).
Figures taken from Hanover Stats and Facts: Homelessness and the Federal Election, Hanover (November 2001). Sample size was 175 clients: 55% were female; 30% were parents; 35% were aged 18 to 25; 38% were aged 26 to 40 years; the remaining 27% were over age 40.
6.
The Homeless Persons Legal Clinic (PILCH) has also lodged a substantial submission to the Victorian Government focusing on this issue with regard to state elections.
7.
Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters (JSCEM), Parliament of Australia, Report of the Inquiry into the Conduct of the 2001 Federal Election and Matters Related Thereto (June 2003) 92–93.
8.
As well as helping to enfranchise the homeless population of that country, the Representation of the People Act 2000 (UK) also gave voting rights to remand prisoners, squatters and certain patients of mental institutions. These groups can also now use postal voting.
9.
Research undertaken by Harry Barnes MP, quoted in Traveller Law Research Unit, Cardiff Law School, Voting Rights for the Homeless <<http://www.cf.ac.uk/claws/tlru/Voting.pdf>>.
