In a major change which will affect the august 21 election, the High Court has decided to overturn laws enacted by the Howard government which effectively excluded a large part of an essential consitutency being young people who have only just turned 18 and are now eligible to vote because of the reform. The decision will affect approximatey 100,000 young Australians and has caused a scramble at the Australian Electoral Comission to ensure that these new voters are aware that they will be entitled to vote in the upcoming election. The High Court gave a ruling that the laws which close the electoral rolls on the day that writs for an election are issued are invalid on the basis that the parliament lacks the appropriate power to make such a law.

There has long been an argument that the laws were politically motivated because of the fact that young people tend to vote labor and this law benefited the Howard government which is why it was enacted. The court did not publish reasons for its decision.
He said that never before in Australia’s history had a case of this magnitude been won in a two-week period.

About 20 lawyers, led by Ron Merkel, QC, worked around the clock on a pro-bono basis. The High Court has ordered their costs be covered by the Commonwealth. The opposition defended the changes which were made back in 2006 as a method of ensuring the integrity of the electoral roll. However, the activist organisation behind the case remains unconvinced of this and firmly believes that the reforms were part of political manouvering by the Howard Government during the 2006 election. Whatever the ultimate reason for the changes, there is little doubt that expanding the general voting franchise of Australian citizens is a positive step in the health of our democracy and for this reason is a welcome decision.