Question On Notice No. 2201 asked in the Legislative Council on 11 June 2019 by Hon Martin Aldridge
Question Directed to the: Minister for Environment; Disability Services; Electoral Affairs
Parliament: 40 Session: 1
Question
I refer to section 25 of the Electoral Act 1907, which provides a statutory right for the public inspection of the rolls, and I ask:
(a) is the State electoral roll available for inspection at any place other than that of the Perth CBD offices of the Western Australian Electoral Commission;
(b) are there limitations on the Electoral Commissioner providing access to the rolls in another place other than the one identified in (a);
(c) in the interest of providing reasonable access for regional people to exercise their statutory right under section 25, has or will the Electoral Commissioner or Minister consider the merits of making available for public inspection the State electoral rolls at:
(i) local government offices;
(ii) community resource centres;
(iii) office of State Members of Parliament; and
(iv) other suitable locations based within our regions; and
(d) does the Electoral Commission collect data on those inspecting the state rolls at its offices and, if so, will the Minister please provide a summary of that data for the last 12 months?
Answered on 13 August 2019
(a) Yes. The roll is also available for inspection at Australian Electoral Commission offices in Western Australia. Individual electors can also check their enrolment details online, using computer facilities available in local libraries and community resource centres if necessary.
(b) - (c) (iv) The electoral roll is a ‘living document’ which changes continually. The roll is managed Australia-wide by the Australian Electoral Commission, which provides weekly updates to the Western Australian Electoral Commission. Providing access and updates at the various locations suggested would be resource prohibitive both for the Commission and the organisations concerned, with the added risk that in the event that organisations failed to update details, the roll available for viewing at that location would be inaccurate, incomplete and potentially misleading.
(d) No