A lil’ while ago, we made an absolute song and dance over the importance of enrolling to vote. Considering the genuinely massive impact all of you young things could have on the upcoming federal election, we feel pretty justified in our decision.
In the aftermath of the Australian media’s fervent push to make sure each and every one of you are able to enact your democratic rights, the Australian Electoral Commission has released a slew of updated figures. Among them, these tidbits:
The number of 18-year-olds enrolled to vote jumped 20% since the end of April, resulting in a 71% total enrolment rate in that cohort. Nearly 87% of those aged 18 – 24 are good and ready to number those boxes, and that’s genuinely great news! Really!
Australians enrolled for the election by age. 18 YO participation up from 51% to 71% since end of April #ausvotes pic.twitter.com/eMcmp1JXA5
— AEC (@AusElectoralCom) June 5, 2016
On the other side of those figures: a fair few of you aren’t on that list. In fact, a higher percentage of those aged 18 – 24 is absent than any other age group.
Yerp. According to the AEC, enrolled voters aged 18 – 29 will cast under 20% of the vote, whereas those aged 60+ hold 30%. Food for thought, as you gear up for our next scheduled national sausage sizzle.
See you at the polls, pals.
Source: Triple J / AEC.
Photo: Paul Kane / Getty.
