Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918
| Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Parliament of Australia | |
| An Act to Consolidate and Amend the Law relating to Parliamentary Elections and for other purposes |
|
| Date commenced | Various dates |
| Amendments | |
| 1949, 1962, 1973, 1984 | |
| Related legislation | |
| Commonwealth Franchise Act 1902 | |
The Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 was an Act of the Australian Parliament passed in 1918 which replaced the Commonwealth Franchise Act 1902 which had defined who was entitled to vote in Australian federal elections. The 1902 Act set uniform national franchise criteria, establishing the voting age at 21 years and women's suffrage at the national level, also a right to stand for election to the Parliament. That Act also disqualified from voting a number of categories of people, including Indigenous peoples from Australian, Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands (except New Zealand Maori), even if citizens of the British Empire. A plurality voting system ("first-past-the-post") was established. The 1902 Act also made it clear that no person could vote more than once at each election. The 1902 Act was amended in 1906 to allow postal voting. In 1908, a permanent electoral roll was established and in 1911 it became compulsory for eligible voters to enroll. Compulsory enrollment led to a large increase in voter turnout, even though voting was still voluntary. From 1912, elections have been held on Saturdays.
The 1918 Act was introduced by the Nationalist Party of Billy Hughes and is still the core legislation governing the conduct of elections in Australia, having been amended on numerous occasions since 1918.
The 1918 Act replaced first-past-the-post voting with instant-runoff voting ("preferential voting") for the House of Representatives and the Senate. (Preferential voting had been pioneered by Queensland in 1892.) The voting system was changed by the anti-Labor Hughes after the 1918 Swan by-election, which saw the Labor candidate win with 34% of the vote due to a split in the anti-Labor vote between the Nationalist and Country Party candidates, with 29.6% and 31.4% respectively.
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