At 91, there are many things that you can no longer do, but one of the things you still can do is have your voice heard in an election – but not for at least one Byron Shire resident.
Local woman, Carmel, didn’t feel she would be able to either stand in a long queue or let herself be exposed to rising COIVD numbers on Election Day, so she decided to do a postal vote.
Carmel’s daughter applied on her behalf online with the AEC on April 27, and Carmel got confirmation immediately via email that the application had arrived.
Another email, a day or so later, advised her that the application had been processed and the paperwork had been dispatched from their office on May 4.
Having only sporadic mail deliveries, Carmel didn’t worry when, by the week after the promised day arrived, she had no papers – she believed she had applied with enough time to spare.
When her papers had not arrived by Monday May 16, she rang the AEC and was told that the papers were on the way. When there was still no delivery by the 18th, she rang again, and was again told the papers were on the way.
Empty promises
This time she told the person on the phone that if the papers didn’t arrive in time she was going to call off the election, to which the AEC representative responded, ‘oh no, you can’t do that!’ clearly not seeing the joke.
By Friday Carmel’s chance to vote passed with nothing in the mail.
‘I feel disappointment at not having a chance to vote.’
Carmel, who as well as being a nonagenarian is a grandmother and great grandmother. She doesn’t know where the system got it wrong – whether it was at the AEC’s end or because of the delivery process.
She feels that the letters should be registered to make sure they get to where they are supposed to be going.
‘If they decide to fine me for not voting, I’ll tell them not to hold their breath – I’m not paying anything! I did everything the way I should have – they should be paying me for putting up with such incompetence.’
♦ Carmel is Eve Jeffery’s mother.
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