andykirk wrote:
I'm all for improving the veracity of the electoral system and reducing fraud. However its unclear to what extent the fraud perpetrated and the period between calling an election and closing the rolls are _link_ed.

It is obvious that the young, the poor and the itinerant are disproportionately affected by shortening this grace period. And its obvious that on the whole these groups are less inclined to vote liberal.

Its one thing to want to fix a problem in an existing system, but quite another throw out the baby with the bathwater... *cough* IR reform *cough*. Whether its 100 points of ID or a retinal scan doesn't matter, but give people time to register and get their vote.

Andy,

There is always lots of time to enrol to vote or ammend your enrolment details. There are 3 to 4 years between elections to do so. The extra time is barely much of a stretch really so it is a null arguement.

As for it affecting the young and poor, this would only be true due to their own decision making. Everyone is responsible for their own actions or lack of.

The extent of fraud can't be said because nobody has investigated it to make it official. It's easy to do by looking at how much mail outs are returned after the election which by the way, is a large amount. Not just of the AEC but of the sitting members too.