FED:Informal voting hits record high

AAP General News (Australia)
08-22-2010
FED:Informal voting hits record high

It appears a new record has been set .. with almost 620 thousand people casting an informal vote.

That's 5.64 per cent of all votes cast .. a rise of 1.69 per cent on the 2007 election.

However with counting continuing .. the figure's not final.

Australian Electoral Commission's PHIL DIAK says the informal voting rate does appear
higher .. although there's no information as to why.

ABC electoral analyst ANTONY GREEN says it's the highest percentage of informal votes
since 1984 when the rate hit 6.3 per cent.

A possible reason is former Labor leader MARK LATHAM .. who urged voters to cast an
informal vote as a protest against the big parties.





An informal vote is an unmarked ballot paper .. one not initialled by a polling place
official .. one not filled out correctly .. or where the voter identifies him or herself.

With counting so far .. the exact number of people who voted informally is 618-thousand-435.

AAP RTV mb/sb/jen

KEYWORD: POLL10 INFORMAL (CANBERRA)

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