The Australian Bureau of Statistics has advised anyone who needs a replacement same-sex marriage survey form to apply for one before tonight’s 6pm cut-off point.
Read: if you believe your form has been lost, stolen, damaged, or otherwise rendered bung, you should probably register for a replacement right. Bloody. Now.
If you’re in need of a replacement form, you can acquire one right HERE. You’ll need to provide a driver’s licence or passport details, so make sure you’ve got either of ’em handy.
As for why the cut-off point for replacement forms is so far ahead of when the powers that be will actually stop accepting responses – 6pm on November 7, FYI – it’s to do with the barcodes.
Per the ABS site, each vote is linked to the barcode printed on your form. Each barcode is linked to your personal details – name, address, what have you. When a replacement vote is processed, the first barcode is invalidated in their system to ensure you can’t vote twice.
Due to the absolutely massive number of forms that need to be counted before the result’s announcement on November 15, they’re looking to start counting votes early.
To ensure each person’s vote is separated from their personal details, each barcode will be removed from its corresponding vote when the count begins. Once this process is in motion, it’ll be impossible to accurately tell which barcode belongs to which vote in order to provide you a replacement.
So, go ahead. Get that replacement form, and have a say in an issue which, to be totally honest, could have been settled without the rigmarole of a massively expensive postal vote.
