A record number of Australians have enrolled to vote at the 18 May federal election, according to the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC).
The total of 16,424,248 people, which accounts for 96.8 per cent of the eligible voting population, tops the number of people enrolled to vote ahead of the 2016 federal election by around 750,000.
Those numbers are “something all Australians can be proud of” and is unlikely to be matched anywhere in the world, Electoral Commissioner Tom Rogers said.
“A national enrolment rate of 96.8 per cent was for a long time thought to be unattainable,” he said.
“Such a complete roll is a credit to Australian citizens and to the hard work and careful processes put in place by AEC staff.
A record number of Australians aged 18 to 24 are also expected to vote on 18 May, the AEC said.
An estimated 88.8 per cent of eligible 18 to 24-year olds are now on the electoral roll - a 7.5 per cent increase from the 81.3 per cent enrolled ahead of the 2016 federal election.
Around 70,000 18 to 24-year-olds were added to the electoral roll during last week’s close of rolls alone, Mr Rogers said.
“Enrolment for this youth cohort, at 88.8 per cent, is now even higher than it was for the marriage postal survey when it was 88.6 per cent,” he said.
Around 100,000 Australians, two-thirds of whom were under 25 at the time, were added to the electoral roll ahead of the postal vote.
The 2019 federal election is the first at which Australians born in the year 2000 can vote.
