Australians are cheering on former occupants of their homes, claiming their failure to redirect their mail has left the new residents with extra votes in the same sex marriage survey.
Would-be voters took to social media to report their extra mail would finally be put to use, with one man claiming he had received seven extra votes.
‘Big ups to the seven people that haven’t changed their enrolment info and their vote mail came to my house,’ he wrote on Twitter.
‘My vote just evolved 7 times hahaha.’
One man claimed he would be voting an extra seven times in the same sex marriage postal survey because former residents of his house had not changed their enrolment details
Many praised the idea of using extra ballots to have a more powerful say in the survey
A woman responded she would be doing the same thing with extra votes sent to her home
He was cheered on by a woman who said she often received mail for previous residents, and would submit a yes vote for each extra postal survey form she received.
The pair were joined in their sentiments by another man on Facebook.
He said the ‘beauty’ of the Government’s decision to spend $122million on a postal survey instead of putting the matter to a parliamentary vote, was found in the extra three votes he had received.
Commenters had mixed reactions to the idea, with some praising the original posters while others questioned if it amounted to voter fraud.
Last month, deputy statistician Jonathan Palmer told a Senate inquiry: ‘You can’t guarantee against theft in a postal process’.
Though the nature of the survey means electoral fraud is not possible, there are still some rules intended to keep the survey count above board.
One man on Facebook said the ability to vote multiple times due to the postal process was ‘the beauty’ of the non binding survey
Though the nature of the survey means electoral fraud is not possible, there are still some rules intended to keep the survey count above board – including laws against opening peoples mail and ‘misleading the statistician’ which can result in a fine of more than $2,000
The mailout of postal surveys on whether same sex marriage should be legalised began this week. The survey cost the Federal Government $122million and is non binding
Mr Palmer explained: ‘It would be against the law to open someone else’s mail, and there would also be penalties around misleading the statistician’.
The laws are, however, difficult to enforce. Authorities would need to know who opened the mail, be able to prove it was opened, and to prove who ‘misled the statistician’.
The only real way authorities will be able to determine if a double vote has taken place will be if someone rings up to report they have not received their form or to ask for a new one.
In this case, a new form will be issued with a new barcode, rendering the previous survey form invalid.
If someone is caught misleading the statistician, they face a penalty of up to $2,100.