Prisoners in Canberra's jail have been left in the dark about candidate positions on key issues in the upcoming ACT election, with no how-to-vote cards or party information provided to inmates.
ACT Corrections said it offered candidates the opportunity to provide the information but none was forthcoming.
Under the Electoral Act, all prisoners - currently 444 men and women in custody as of October 8 - were eligible to vote provided they were enrolled.
Elections ACT usually sets up a small mobile polling booth at the prison and provides electronic voting but due to COVID-19 restrictions, prisoners this year were given postal votes. Each contained a reply paid return envelope and the security of their voting was protected so as to avoid a breach of the Electoral Act.
"An email was sent to all staff advising them of what the return envelopes look like to ensure they are not opened prior to leaving the Alexander Maconochie Centre," a spokesperson said in a statement.
Under electoral guidelines, the address at which a prisoner was enrolled when he or she started serving their sentence remain on the electoral roll at that address.
For federal elections, a person cannot vote if he or she is convicted and under sentence for more than three years. However, that's not the case in the ACT where a prisoner can enrol and vote regardless of the length of their sentence unless they have been convicted of treason, or are of unsound mind.
