Foreign News
Australians pay millions in fines for failing to vote in 2025 election
Hundreds of thousands of Australians who did not vote in last year’s federal election have paid over $2.78 million in penalties, Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported on Thursday.
The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) issued notices to more than 1.3 million people for their “apparent failure to vote” in the 2025 polls.
Voting is compulsory in Australia, and those who do not fulfil their civic duty face a 20-dollar administrative penalty or a fine up to 330 dollars in court.
Around 90 percent of eligible Australians voted in the 2025 election.
As of May, 207,000 people had elected to pay $20 administrative penalty, forking out about $4.15 million.