A veteran Coalition MP in far north Queensland claims to have evidence of multiple instances of voter fraud, but the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) disagrees.
The federal government has proposed a change to the way Australians go to the polls that would require voters to produce an approved form of identification in order to cast their ballot.
Critics have said the proposed law, which could be in place as early as the next federal election, would put a barrier on people's democratic right to vote, but LNP Member for Leichhardt Warren Entsch said the move was a step towards voter equity.
Mr Entsch told the ABC he had evidence of multiple instances of fraud going back years.
"Unfortunately, there are those within our democratic society that have the view 'vote early and vote often,'" he said.
"You've got no idea how many people that have died in the 12 months before the election actually register a vote when it's checked.
"You've got no idea of the number of the people that, when they check the ballots after, their name hasn't been crossed off once, but it's been crossed off in a dozen voting booths across the region."
According to the Australian Electoral Commission, the rate of multiple voting during the 2019 election was estimated to be 0.03 per cent.
Entsch complaint lodged with AEC
Mr Entsch said he had registered multiple complaints to the AEC with no response.
"It has been raised with them on numerous occasions," he said.
In a statement, the AEC said its database was updated millions of times a year, including data received from state records of births, deaths and marriages.
The AEC said that at the last federal election there were only 2,102 instances of multiple votes being cast, of which most had been caused by confusion or language barriers.
According to the electoral commissioner, no instances of fraud were prosecuted.
Affect on marginalised groups
Critics of the proposed voter ID laws have pointed to the disproportionate affect on marginalised groups such as Indigenous Australians, the homeless, and those fleeing family violence.
But Mr Entsch does not agree.
"There's no reason why they can't identify themselves," Mr Entsch said.
"They have no problem producing their Medicare card. There's no problem with them if they want a Centrelink payment, they can produce some evidence to show that they get access to Centrelink.
"It is not an impost."
Mr Entsch said the move was "just to make sure".
"You've got the democratic right to vote — why wouldn't you show who you are?
"We're not a third world country."
Anita Veivers, the executive director of Centacare in far north Queensland, disagrees.
She said there were many reasons why some Australians might find it hard to have access to up-to-date identification.
"People who are homeless, may be living on the street, don't have documentation, don't have photo ID, will not be able to take that up," she said.
"We quite often see people who've had to leave their home with little more than the clothes that they're wearing.
Ms Veivers said another, growing factor in providing up-to-date identification was the digital divide.
"We do have a lot of people in our community who don't have access to the internet, who don't have access to the resources to be able to renew paperwork, renew documentation online," she said.
Ms Veivers said even the alternative of filling out a declaration and other additional paperwork that could allow someone to vote without ID, was an obstacle.
"If people don't have a good level of literacy and it's not easy for them to be able to understand the documentation that's being presented to them or what information is being asked of them, that in itself is a barrier," she said.
"Anything that puts a barrier between people and their ability to have the opportunity to vote is not a good thing."
