AEC warns Australian political parties over ‘misleading’ postal vote applications

An Australian Electoral Commission employee organises boxes of information for polling booths at an AEC warehouse in Queanbeyan. The AEC has warned political parties against distributing ‘potentially misleading’ postal vote applications. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

The Australian Electoral Commission has written to political parties warning against distributing “potentially misleading” postal vote applications to residents.

Political parties have sent out forms to voters where they can register with the AEC to vote via mail. However, the forms are sent back via the political parties and can be used to harvest personal information about those voters to target later.