Report released on the 2023 General Election
The Electoral Commission’s report on the 2023 General Election has been released today and includes 44 recommendations to improve election delivery.
“In 2023 we saw continued high levels of participation in both enrolment and turnout. The enrolment rate was the highest (94.7%) since 2008, and turnout was 78.2% of enrolled electors, which is a strong result for a country where voting is a choice,” says Karl Le Quesne, Chief Electoral Officer.
Voter satisfaction was high. In the Commission’s post-election voter and non-voter survey, 93% of voters rated the voting process excellent or very good, which is consistent with recent elections.
There was a pronounced shift to increased enrolment activity after writ day when the electoral rolls for issuing ordinary votes are printed. More than 600,000 enrolments or updates happened after writ day, including 450,000 during the voting period, of which 110,000 occurred on election day.
There was also a significant increase in the proportion of special votes. In 2023, 1 in 5 votes cast (21%) was a special vote.
“In our report, we make recommendations to modernise and improve services to voters, including enrolment processes and the use of technology, while maintaining integrity and accuracy.
“We also ask Parliament to consider ways to reduce the growing number of special votes, which take longer to issue and count. Some of these recommendations require investment in legislative, service delivery, and system changes, phased over several election cycles,” says Karl Le Quesne.
"We look forward to assisting the Justice Committee with its inquiry into the 2023 General Election, as it identifies specific legislative changes to improve the electoral system for the next election and longer term.”