By Jamie Salter
The Federal Election is just two days away but tens of thousands of people who have contracted Covid-19 may not get the chance to have their vote.
People who didn’t apply for a postal vote before the application deadline, tested positive before 6pm on Tuesday 17 May, and are in isolation through to after election day, “may not be able to vote”, according to the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC).
People who tested positive to Covid-19 between Saturday 14 May and 6pm Tuesday 17 May were eligible to apply for a postal vote before the cut off time of 6pm on Wednesday 18 May.
Those who tested positive to Covid-19 after 6pm on Tuesday 17 May will be eligible for a telephone vote as part of an emergency service in response to the pandemic.
But those who tested positive before 6pm on Tuesday have been left without options.
The AEC took to Twitter on Thursday 19 May to address the public’s concerns and clarify who will and will not be eligible to cast their vote.
“Telephone voting is an emergency service only, for the unique circumstances of the pandemic, with deadlines set in the legislation/regulations,” the AEC said.
“People registering for telephone voting will be making a declaration about the circumstances of their test.”
Members of the public have responded to the Covid-19 voting conditions.
“Imagine testing positive at 5:50pm on Tuesday and not immediately jumping on the AEC website to order a postal vote,” @vrachelv9 said.
“You cannot prohibit thousands of Covid-19 positive people from voting. It is our hard fought democratic right to vote. Please allow this to occur,” @tweeter_vee said.
People who are in isolation won’t be fined if they don’t receive their postal vote on time.
“People who apply for a postal vote will not be fined if they do not receive their ballot papers before election day, or if their returned postal votes are received by the AEC after 3 June,” the AEC said.
More than 6.5 million people have either cast a pre-poll vote or applied for a postal vote so far.
