Australia’s Ambassador to Greece Arthur Spyrou, has reminded Greek-Australians who are in Greece or who will be in Greece during the 21 May federal elections that they can still exercise their right to take part, provided they have enrolled by 18 April.
Mr Spyrou advises that eligible voters to check their enrolment and apply for a postal vote through the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) website’s overseas link.
“Check your enrolment and apply for a postal vote https://aec.gov.au/overseas. Votes can be sent directly to the AEC, to us, or dropped off in-person by appointment (https://australianembassyathens.setmore.com),” said Mr Spyrou on Twitter.
The 🇦🇺 federal election has been announced for 21-05-2022. Australians in 🇬🇷 can🗳️via postal vote. Check your enrolment & apply for a postal vote https://t.co/EzCxIZz1rO. Votes can be sent directly to the AEC, to us, or dropped off in-person by appointment https://t.co/SU0LYqT2cQ pic.twitter.com/AtyWNS6EXR
— Alison Duncan (@AusAmbAthens) April 10, 2022
In fact, the AEC notes on its website that another way to cast your vote if you will be overseas on 21 May is to cast a pre-poll vote before you leave Australia.
“Early voting centres open 9 May 2022. A list of available locations is available on the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) website,.” the AEC states but it warns that these centres may be closed because of new COVID regulations or because of security concerns.
To by-pass this concern, the Commission recommends that all overseas voters participate in the elections by postal vote.
“To cast a postal vote from outside Australia, you need to check your enrolment and complete a postal vote application,” the AEC says.
A postal vote application can be downloaded from the AEC website and submitted to the AEC or it can be printed from the website and handed in to the nearest AEC office. All postal vote applications close at 6pm on Wednesday 18 May.
The AEC recommends you request a postal vote as soon as possible to ensure you receive, complete and return your vote in time for it to be counted.
“You can send your postal vote directly to the AEC in Australia. Alternatively, you may be able to send it or drop it off at an Australian embassy, high commission or consulate which will return your postal vote to the AEC on your behalf. See the list of locations on the AEC website for more detail,” the AEC states.
“To be counted, your postal vote must be completed and witnessed by 6pm AEST on21 May. Return your postal vote as soon as possible, noting the AEC can only accept ballot papers received in Australia by 3 June 2022 (13 days after the election),” says the AEC website.
“In-person voting is available in some locations overseas –see the list on the AEC website. Note that overseas in-person centres may become unavailable at short notice if the local COVID or security situation changes. For this reason, the AEC recommends you participate in this election by postal vote if you are overseas.
“Voting while overseas is not compulsory. If you can’t vote because you’re overseas, you’ll need to advise the AEC on an overseas notification form,” said the AEC on its website.
The AEC says the key dates in the process are:
- 09 May 2022 – in-person early voting starts
- 18 May 2022 – postal vote applications close
- 21 May 2022 – the federal election is held
- 03 June 2022 – last day for votes to be received close
For more information on how to vote, visit the AEC website. (https://www.aec.gov.au)
