South-west November 2022 state election non-voters risk $92 fine

Non-voters in Victoria are given 28 days to respond to penalty reminder notices otherwise they risk paying a $92 fine.

A Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC) spokeswoman said voting gave people the opportunity to choose who represented them in state parliament.

The spokeswoman said of the 53,099 people enrolled to vote in the South-West Coast electorate, 2338 (4.4 per cent) were issued infringement notices, with 1905 (3.6 per cent) receiving a penalty reminder notice.

Of the 53,064 people enrolled in Polwarth, 2126 (4 per cent) were issued infringement notices, with 1657 (3.1 per cent) receiving a penalty reminder notice.

In Lowan, of the 51,182 people enrolled, 2314 (4.5 per cent) were issued infringement notices, with 1850 (3.6 per cent) receiving a penalty reminder notice.

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The VEC spokeswoman said the people that were excused had provided a valid reason for not voting included being interstate or overseas, submitted an away from Victoria form or were in flood affected areas during the election period.

Section 163 of the Electoral Act 2002 said other valid reasons included if a person had died, was ineligible to vote, did not have a fixed address, or applied for a postal vote but the application was received late or rejected.

The VEC spokeswoman said exemptions were dealt with on a case-by-case basis.

She said voter turnout had declined in Australia and other comparable democracies over the past decade.

"It's important to note that while turnout has dropped across the state for the 2022 state election, the percentage of people in each district in the south-west receiving an infringement notice is lower than the state average of 5.69 per cent," she said.

Electoral Commissioner Sven Bluemmel said penalty reminder notice recipients should act as soon as possible.

'If you receive a penalty reminder notice in the mail, you have three options: pay the fine, request an internal review, or elect to go to court," he said.

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