Compulsory voting will remain in place in Queensland but political parties will have to declare donations of $12,400 or more under reforms announced by the Newman Government today. Online voting could also be trialled in the 2015 campaign for voters with a disability. Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie said he envisioned all voters could vote electronically within six years. “Subject to appropriate security arrangements and successful trials, computers could replace paper voting cards at polling booths and Queenslanders could even one day vote from the comfort of their own homes over the Internet,” Mr Bleijie said. “The immediate priority is providing electronically assisted voting for people with disabilities.” Other reforms will include lifting the caps on political donations and expenditure which were imposed by the former government and requiring proof of identity from voters on polling day.
Mr Bleijie said fixing parliamentary terms was also on the cards but a final decision was yet to be made.
He defended the decision to lift the political donation cap saying he believed it should be up to the people of Queensland to decide how much they wanted to give.
How-to-vote cards will be published online as well under the changes with the Electoral Commission of Queensland given the discretion to reject them if they are found to be misleading.
Source: Compulsory voting to remain in Queensland as donation cap lifted | The Australian.