Australians with COVID-19 will be allowed to vote using their phone this election

Australians who are isolating after testing positive for COVID-19 will be able to vote using their phone this election, after Crikey first reported that a loophole in eligibility would leave some voters unable to cast their ballot.

Any voter who tested positive for COVID-19 after 6pm last Friday will be able to use the Secure Telephone Voting service offered by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) to vote.

This morning, electoral commissioner Tom Rogers signed a brief recommending that eligibility for the phone voting service be expanded.

“We have analysed the service’s take-up so far, our staffing levels and forecasts for use, and are in urgent discussions with government about the concerns expressed by members of the public,” he said in a statement released on Friday morning.

Special Minister of State Ben Morton released a statement shortly afterwards announcing that the federal government in consultation with the opposition had acted on the advice.

“It is important that every Australian who is enrolled and entitled to vote, be able to exercise their democratic right and this change ensures that,” he said in a press release.

Yesterday Crikey reported that potentially hundreds of thousands of Australians would be affected by restrictions on phone voting that left some people unable to vote or relying on receiving their mail ballot in time.

With phone voting originally only available to those who tested positive after Tuesday 6pm, and a mail ballot cut-off at Wednesday 6pm, more than 130,000 Australians who tested positive between Saturday and Tuesday risked losing their vote.