Posts claiming 'low' Australia voter turnout share preliminary figures

Australia has consistently seen poll turnouts of around 90 percent or more since the country enforced compulsory voting a century ago. Posts claiming only seven in ten voters showed up during the recent federal elections misuse early figures that according to the Australian Election Commission (AEC) will increase once all votes are counted.

"Low turnout for federal election," former Liberal candidate Katherine Deves Morgan wrote on X. "76.98% showed up. Decrease of 11.27% from 2022. Why?"

The post was shared more than 200 times after it was published on May 4, 2025.

The false claim surfaced as counting was still underway in Australia's general elections held on May 3, but Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's Labor Party was on track to win by a landslide. His conservative rival Peter Dutton of the Liberal Party conceded the same day (archived link).

Voting in Australia is compulsory -- a mainstay for the country's federal polls since 1925 -- and eligible voters who do not cast a ballot on election day are fined 20 Australian dollars ($13 USD) (archived here and here).

Due to the mandatory voting laws, Australia has seen high turnout rates in referendums and elections in recent decades (archived link).

The false claim also spread on Facebook, including a user who shared a screenshot of Morgan's post.

Some users appeared to believe the number represented the final voter turnout.

"Are some dead, sick, etc? Or were their ballots thrown in the bin?" says one commenter.

Another wrote, "Has there ever been anything like that level of disengagement before?"

But responding to Morgan's post on X, the AEC wrote: "That is not a final turnout figure. As is standard at this point, votes cast overseas, interstate & many postal votes still to be counted" (archived link).

According to the poll body's latest figures published on its Tally Room webpage, the election's turnout rate is at least 81 percent as of May 8 and is expected to go up as votes continue to be counted (archived link).

It also said in a statement that the figures are "only based on votes counted so far and do not represent a final turnout figure for the 2025 federal election" (archived link).

The election body's senior media advisor, Alex Morris, told AFP that the AEC has 13 days after the election to receive postal votes, and turnout cannot be calculated before every ballot is received.

"I will say that this is far from the first time we've encountered this piece of disinformation," he said.

Australia fact-checking organisation AAP Fact Check has also previously debunked claims of low voter turnout (archived link).

AFP has fact-checked other misinformation related to the Australian election here, here and here.