More Than 250,000 Young Australians Aren’t Enrolled to Vote on Marriage Equality

You only have until 6pm AEST on Thursday, August 24 to enrol. Good thing you can do it right here.

With mere hours left for Australians to get on the electoral roll for the upcoming postal survey on marriage equality, the Australian Electoral Commission has revealed approximately 279,000 eligible 18 to 24-year-olds are ‘missing’.

That means about 279,000 young Australians will be unable to have their say on same-sex marriage.

The good news is it takes no time to enrol, and you can do it right now. Enrol to vote here. (You only have until 6pm on Thursday, August 24 to get on the electoral roll. Otherwise, you will not be eligible to vote.)

You can also check your enrolment here, to ensure you’re on the roll. If you recently moved, better update your details.

The AEC estimates 257,000 25 to 39-year-olds are also ‘missing’, compared to just 75,000 ‘missing’ from the 60+ demographic.

Nationwide, there are 15,882,788 people enrolled to vote, with 811,000 estimated ‘missing’.

One last thing. AEC sent across age breakdown of those missing from the roll. Interesting numbers: pic.twitter.com/Or2biG7cuV

— Mark Di Stefano 🤙🏻 (@MarkDiStef) August 22, 2017

FYI, Here’s What You Need to Know (and Do) to Vote on Marriage Equality in Australia.

Since the announcement of the postal survey on August 8, the AEC says the electoral roll has increased by 54,545.

However, a senior person in the “Yes” campaign has told Guardian Australia they’re “concerned” over the lack of youth enrolments.

“We know that younger people are more like to vote yes,” they said.

On the other hand, some Liberal MPs are reportedly regretting the postal survey push, with a strategist telling Buzzfeed it’s “motivating a group of people, the large portion of them young, who are naturally going to vote against you at the next election,” (which may be closer than you think).

That deadline again: 6pm AEST on Thursday, August 24.

Photo: YouTube.com/Jack U