Oceania | Politics | Oceania

Getting to the Root of Australia’s ‘Informal Ballot’ Problem

Some voters in Australia’s compulsory voting system purposefully spoil their ballots, but a new assessment suggests that most just don’t understand the complex system and make mistakes. 

A significant problem has emerged over the past few federal elections in Australia. A consistently high number of “informal ballots” have been cast. An informal ballot, in the language of the independent Australian Electoral Commission (AEC), is a vote that cannot be counted toward a result. The number of such votes has hovered around 5 percent over the past three elections, with an uptick of 0.4 percentage points at last year’s election. 

In response to this, the AEC launched an inquiry into why this is occurring, and this month published their findings. 

In Australia’s compulsory voting system, it is only a requirement to turn up to the ballot box. Once you have your name ticked off and receive a ballot you are well within your rights to intentionally spoil the ballot. You can draw pictures on it, or write your opinions, or put a large cross through all the candidates. This can be useful information, by providing a registration of extreme discontent. If such sentiments are particularly prominent in certain regions, that’s valuable information to have.

However, the AEC concluded from its inquiry that only a quarter of people who cast informal ballots at the 2025 election actively intended to spoil their ballot in this way. The other three-quarters were trying to vote using the correct procedure, but didn’t understand how. 

The inquiry also found that there were certain seats where informal votes were much higher, and here there was a recognizable problem. In the ten seats with the highest number of informal votes, eight have large migrant populations. This was particularly pronounced in western Sydney, where two seats had informal ballots make up over 17 percent of total votes cast, and a third at just under 14 percent.

What can be deduced from this is that newer arrivals to the country are not being equipped with the required knowledge to fully participate in Australia’s democracy. Australia’s compulsory voting isn’t just about turnout. It rests on a broader expectation that citizens have at least a basic grasp of national affairs and see themselves as active participants. 

Because Australia makes voting compulsory the onus has been on the AEC (and its state-based equivalents) to make participation as accessible as possible. Voting is always on Saturdays, with polling places well distributed. Early voting is available to make sure that everyone has time to cast a ballot. Postal voting is available to anyone who doesn’t live close to a voting booth, including those living overseas. Mobile polling stations go to hospitals, nursing homes, and remote communities. 

Yet there is another responsibility on the government, other than just making it easy to vote. There is the need for strong public education to make sure people know how to vote using the correct procedure. This is more demanding, as Australia has a highly complex voting system that requires considerable knowledge to navigate. It is one of only four countries that uses preferential voting (also known as ranked choice) at a national level, with Ireland, Malta, and Papua New Guinea being the others. This requires the voter to rank each candidate on the ballot for their electoral district in the House of Representatives.  

However, there is a different voting system for the Senate, where the electorate is state-wide. Here the voter is offered a choice on how to vote: either ranking six parties, or ranking every single candidate. This can seem confusing and confronting, as the ballots are usually massive, and the candidate lists very long. Over 150 candidates ran for the Senate in New South Wales last election. 

Most migrants to Australia arrive from countries without compulsory voting, and in some cases without meaningful elections at all. Even for those who have voted before in their countries of origin, the act is often far simpler, usually just selecting a single candidate or party. Ultimately, responsibility falls to the Australian government to ensure that new citizens are equipped with a clear understanding of how the system works, enabling them to meet the civic expectations that compulsory voting entails.

With the AEC’s inquiry there is now evidence of a clear failure. Most students attending school in Australia will do mock ballots in class to prepare them for when they turn 18 and are able to vote. But for those arriving in the country as adults, there are far fewer opportunities to gain such practice. Although the AEC provides community education sessions, they are not compulsory and need to be requested by a community group. 

There may be a need to offer something more formal and possibly mandatory like civic orientation classes for new migrants, like those in Sweden and Finland. Such classes may be considered illiberal by some, but compulsory voting itself is an illiberal idea, yet it has been deployed in order to enhance participation in the country’s liberal democracy. The civic engagement that compulsory voting expects cannot fully be embraced without good knowledge of how the system actually works. 

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A significant problem has emerged over the past few federal elections in Australia. A consistently high number of “informal ballots” have been cast. An informal ballot, in the language of the independent Australian Electoral Commission (AEC), is a vote that cannot be counted toward a result. The number of such votes has hovered around 5 percent over the past three elections, with an uptick of 0.4 percentage points at last year’s election. 

In response to this, the AEC launched an inquiry into why this is occurring, and this month published their findings. 

In Australia’s compulsory voting system, it is only a requirement to turn up to the ballot box. Once you have your name ticked off and receive a ballot you are well within your rights to intentionally spoil the ballot. You can draw pictures on it, or write your opinions, or put a large cross through all the candidates. This can be useful information, by providing a registration of extreme discontent. If such sentiments are particularly prominent in certain regions, that’s valuable information to have.

However, the AEC concluded from its inquiry that only a quarter of people who cast informal ballots at the 2025 election actively intended to spoil their ballot in this way. The other three-quarters were trying to vote using the correct procedure, but didn’t understand how. 

The inquiry also found that there were certain seats where informal votes were much higher, and here there was a recognizable problem. In the ten seats with the highest number of informal votes, eight have large migrant populations. This was particularly pronounced in western Sydney, where two seats had informal ballots make up over 17 percent of total votes cast, and a third at just under 14 percent.

What can be deduced from this is that newer arrivals to the country are not being equipped with the required knowledge to fully participate in Australia’s democracy. Australia’s compulsory voting isn’t just about turnout. It rests on a broader expectation that citizens have at least a basic grasp of national affairs and see themselves as active participants. 

Because Australia makes voting compulsory the onus has been on the AEC (and its state-based equivalents) to make participation as accessible as possible. Voting is always on Saturdays, with polling places well distributed. Early voting is available to make sure that everyone has time to cast a ballot. Postal voting is available to anyone who doesn’t live close to a voting booth, including those living overseas. Mobile polling stations go to hospitals, nursing homes, and remote communities. 

Yet there is another responsibility on the government, other than just making it easy to vote. There is the need for strong public education to make sure people know how to vote using the correct procedure. This is more demanding, as Australia has a highly complex voting system that requires considerable knowledge to navigate. It is one of only four countries that uses preferential voting (also known as ranked choice) at a national level, with Ireland, Malta, and Papua New Guinea being the others. This requires the voter to rank each candidate on the ballot for their electoral district in the House of Representatives.  

However, there is a different voting system for the Senate, where the electorate is state-wide. Here the voter is offered a choice on how to vote: either ranking six parties, or ranking every single candidate. This can seem confusing and confronting, as the ballots are usually massive, and the candidate lists very long. Over 150 candidates ran for the Senate in New South Wales last election. 

Most migrants to Australia arrive from countries without compulsory voting, and in some cases without meaningful elections at all. Even for those who have voted before in their countries of origin, the act is often far simpler, usually just selecting a single candidate or party. Ultimately, responsibility falls to the Australian government to ensure that new citizens are equipped with a clear understanding of how the system works, enabling them to meet the civic expectations that compulsory voting entails.

With the AEC’s inquiry there is now evidence of a clear failure. Most students attending school in Australia will do mock ballots in class to prepare them for when they turn 18 and are able to vote. But for those arriving in the country as adults, there are far fewer opportunities to gain such practice. Although the AEC provides community education sessions, they are not compulsory and need to be requested by a community group. 

There may be a need to offer something more formal and possibly mandatory like civic orientation classes for new migrants, like those in Sweden and Finland. Such classes may be considered illiberal by some, but compulsory voting itself is an illiberal idea, yet it has been deployed in order to enhance participation in the country’s liberal democracy. The civic engagement that compulsory voting expects cannot fully be embraced without good knowledge of how the system actually works. 

Grant Wyeth is a Melbourne-based political analyst specializing in Australia and the Pacific, India and Canada.

immigrants in Australia

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