Creating a more sustainable future for elections

THE recent federal election was the nation’s largest to date, with a huge amount of waste produced by traditional voting processes. According to the Australian Election Commission, this election amassed 250,000 pencils, 240,000 vests, 80,000 ballot boxes and 5000 rolls of tamper-proof tape to stock some 7000 polling places for the 2025 federal election. This has prompted RMIT experts to explore how future elections could be made more sustainable. Re-elected Independent federal MP for Indi, Helen Haines, said many of her corflutes from the recent election will go to a theatre company in Indi who will paint and repurpose them for their staging. "Others have been recycled into cockatoos you see displayed during election campaigns," she said. "My booth wrap was produced from recycled materials and homemade bunting and displays are reused across campaigns. "These are just some of the ways we try to reduce our environmental impact, while still connecting with voters so they can make an informed choice when they go to the ballot box." Many countries are “greening” their elections. In 2019, India’s election commission directed parties to eliminate single-use plastic including corflutes. Other countries are introducing online voting to reduce waste. One study in Estonia found the carbon footprint of paper-based voting was 180 times greater than internet-based voting. RMIT experts Lisa Given, Gary Rosengarten and Matt Duckham said Australia needs to mandate a cradle-to-grave approach to creating, using, recycling and disposing of election materials. “Australia relies heavily on disposable election materials," they said. “While many of these can be recycled, it’s better to avoid single-use materials. “Some print materials may always be needed, because not all voters can access digital content or vote online. “Australia’s newly elected officials have an opportunity to green future elections, adopting a more sophisticated approach to voting in a digital age. “There’s no excuse for producing mountains of plastic and paper waste every three or four years.”

Creating a more sustainable future for elections

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