Australia heads to the polls in historic Voice to parliament referendum

Polls will quickly open in Australia’s first referendum of the twenty first century because the nation decides whether or not to ascertain an Indigenous Voice to parliament and recognise First Nations individuals within the Constitution.

Voting might be open between 8am and 6pm throughout the nation, though over 5 million individuals – together with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and main No campaigner Jacinta Nampijinpa Price – have already forged their ballots.

If opinion polls are to be believed, the referendum seems more likely to fail to go, with greater than 50 per cent of Australians planning to vote No whereas help for the Yes marketing campaign sits within the low-to-mid 40s.

Volunteers hand "how to vote" cards outside a polling booth — For the primary time within the twenty first century, Australians are heading to the polls for a referendum. (Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images)

But the proportion of undecided voters, believed to be across the 10-15 per cent vary however as excessive as 1 / 4 in some surveys, has the Yes camp hopeful the referendum will succeed.

Speaking yesterday, Albanese urged Australians to embrace what he described as a once-in-a-generation alternative to enhance the lives of Indigenous Australians.

“This is not my campaign. This is a request from the First Australians made in 2017 at Uluru, after years of consultation with thousands of Indigenous Australians across hundreds of meetings, across many years,” he stated.Today.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Noel Pearson meet with Pat Farmer at Uluru — Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (proper) has known as on Australians to vote Yes immediately. (Bill Blair/SMH)

“And it’s a gracious request, just asking fellow Australians to walk with them on the journey towards reconciliation… we can’t continue to have a situation with an eight-year life expectancy gap, where an Indigenous young male is more likely to go to jail than to university.

“This is a once-in-a-generation alternative for recognition.”

Opposition leader Peter Dutton, though, repeated his calls for Australians to vote No.

How Australia voted in all 44 of the nation’s referendums

“I hope it is a No vote on the weekend as a result of it hasn’t been correctly defined,” he said.

“It’s divisive. It’s everlasting as soon as it goes into the Constitution and I simply do not suppose, of their thousands and thousands, Australians will help it.”

For the referendum to succeed, more than 50 per cent of voters across Australia must vote Yes, and there must also be a majority of Yes voters in at least four of the six states.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton at a press conference where he announced the Liberal Party will oppose the Indigenous Voice to parliament. — Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has been one of the leaders of the No campaign. (Alex Ellinghausen/SMH)

All votes cast today will be counted by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) tonight, along with the majority of pre-poll ballots, meaning there should be a clear indication of whether the motion has succeeded tonight.

But due to counting processes and postal votes taking far longer to be tallied, the AEC won’t make an official declaration on the result for up to 14 days.

“The AEC by no means formally declares outcomes of a federal election or referendum on the night time,” it says.

A Voice to Parliament referendum information board — While we’ll likely have an idea of whether the referendum has succeeded or not tonight, an official declaration will be days, if not weeks, away. (Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images)

“The AEC has to depend every poll paper greater than as soon as through a course of known as ‘recent scrutiny’ – this happens within the days after referendum night time.

“Each aspect of the double majority for the referendum has to be mathematically certain before an official AEC declaration or the return of the writ.”

Of the 44 referendums in Australian historical past, solely eight have succeeded.

Source: www.9news.com.au