[Oz-envirolink] Don't let them stop you from voting in this Federal election

[hugh spencer]

Subject: Don't let them stop you from voting

Dear friends,

It beggars belief, but this  federal election tens of thousands of eligible
Australians will be stopped from  voting. Will you be one of them?

The Federal Government has  passed extraordinary legislation that will
close the rolls for new voters at  8pm, on the very night the election is
officially called. In the last  election, 83,000 first-time voters enrolled
in the first week after the election  was called. Hundreds of thousands
more registered at their new address. But this  time they won't get that
chance - unless we act urgently.

That's  why whether you're enroled to vote or not, there's a crucial role
for you to  play right now. Click on the link below to demand this law be
revoked, and  help friends and family enrol correctly in the next two weeks
- before new  changes and extra red tape come into effect on April 16
making it even  harder!

http://www.getup.org.au/campaign/DontLetThemStopYouFromVoting

In  Australia we never know what date to expect the federal election; it's
up to the  party in power to decide. Typically, the big announcement
prompts tens of  thousands of people, especially young, newly-eligible
voters, to enrol that  week. Hundreds of thousands more remember to
register at their new address. It's  been that way since Federation with no
evidence of widespread voter fraud.

But this time if you're too busy or don't hear about the election in  time,
and you're not already correctly enrolled, you can't vote. Even if you're
organised enough to get in early, new forms and ID requirements are about
to  come into effect on April 16 - making it that much harder for many
Australians  overseas or in rural areas to register. And if you've been
overseas for more  than 3 years and you're not on the roll, you're still
not allowed to enrol from  abroad.

The effect of this law - the Orwellian-inspired "Electoral  Integrity Act"
- is to stop people from voting. Our purpose is to fight back.  We've made
it easy to spread the word to ensure your friends and family are  correctly
enrolled before the polls slam shut: just use the note below to share  this
essential campaign with everyone you know, including Australians  overseas!

http://www.getup.org.au/campaign/DontLetThemStopYouFromVoting

Thanks  for taking urgent action to spread the word,

The GetUp team

PS:  GetUp has taken your calls for climate action directly to decision
makers, at  the weekend's National Climate Summit. We told leaders from
politics,  industry, science and the business community they have a mandate
for bold action  to fight global warming, and presented Kevin Rudd and
Peter Garrett with our  Action Agenda and 75,000-strong Climate Action Map
petition. For details and  photos, click  here.

----------------

If you have trouble with any links in  this email, please go directly to
www.getup.org.au.

GetUp is an  independent, not-for-profit community campaigning group. We
use new technology  to empower Australians to have their say on important
national issues.



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