Infringements sent to non-voters at state election

ANYONE who did not vote at last year’s state election and has not explained why can expect to get a fine from the Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC) in the coming days.

Last week, the VEC announced it had sent infringement notices to more than 220,000 Victorians who either did not respond to the VEC’s request for an explanation for failing to vote in the November 26 poll or did not have a valid reason.

Nearly 300,000 Victorians were sent an “Apparent failure to vote” notice by the VEC in April. Of those, almost 70,000 were excused for valid reasons.

People who did not respond to the “Apparent failure to vote” notice, or who did not provide a valid and sufficient excuse, will be issued an infringement of $92.

Almost 95 per cent of the infringement notice recipients had not responded to this notice, which gave them an opportunity to explain why they appeared not to have voted.

People who receive an infringement notice must respond within 35 days by either paying the fine, requesting an internal review, or electing to go to court.

VEC acting electoral commissioner Dana Fleming is urging people who receive an infringement notice to take it seriously.

“The most important thing is that you respond to the notice before the deadline – otherwise you could be issued a penalty reminder notice, which carries the original penalty plus an additional administration fee,” she said.

The VEC encourages non-voters who are unsure what to do, or require assistance throughout any stage of the infringements process, to phone 1300 551 575 or head to vec.vic.gov.au/voting/fines-and-reviews

Voting in state elections is compulsory in Victoria.

To make sure no-one misses a future election, the VEC encourages all enrolled voters to sign up for VoterAlert, the commission’s free SMS and email reminder service, which alerted 2.4 million Victorians about key dates in the 2022 state election.

To sign up, head to vec.vic.gov.au/voteralert