Don’t get cross: How to make your referendum vote count

By Djembe Archibald

Aug 28, 2023

Be prepared: What to do when the referendum time comes.

In preparation for the upcoming referendum, the Australian Electoral Commission has sought to clarify the voting process.

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What will a formal vote for the 2023 referendum, specifically around whether or not a ‘tick’ or a ‘cross’ will be able to be counted, has caused “online commentary”, according to the AEC.

So what should you do when the referendum time comes? Here’s how to cast a formal vote.

The formal voting instructions for the referendum are to write either ‘yes’ or ‘no’ in full, in English.

Instructions for casting a formal vote — to write either yes or no in full, in English, will be:

Part of the AEC’s advertising campaign
On the AEC website at tinyurl.com/Referendum23instructions
In the guide delivered to all Australian households
An instruction by AEC polling officials with their ballot paper
On posters in polling places tinyurl.com/VotingFactSheet
On the ballot paper itself

Like an election, the Referendum Act 1984 includes ‘savings provisions’ — the ability to count a vote where the instructions are not followed but the voter’s intention is clear.

The AEC must recognise the law and recognise savings provisions.

Legal advice from the Australian Government Solicitor, provided on multiple occasions during the previous three decades, regarding applying savings provisions to ‘ticks’ and ’crosses’, has been consistent.

This law is neither new nor a new AEC determination for the 2023 referendum.

The law regarding savings provisions and the principle around a voter’s intent has been in place for at least 30 years and six referendum questions.

The long-standing legal advice provides that a cross can be open to interpretation whether it denotes approval or disapproval: many people use it daily to indicate endorsement in check boxes on forms.

The legal advice provides that an unmistakable ‘tick’ should be counted as formal for a single referendum question, and a ‘cross’ should not.