aussie electoral rolls

[kylejustin]

i've found my grandparents in the 1968 electoral rolls. only thing is, they are living separately. which is expected, but is way earlier than expected. my question is thus: how was the information for the electoral rolls compiled? i think someone said here that the english rolls were filled out the year before they were to come into effect, could this be the same in australia? i'm just wondering if there is a way to figure out roughly when my grandparents separated.

[webwiz]

I think there is some confusion. There is a delay before the rolls come into effect for an election, but the 1968 roll does relate to 1968.

[Olde Crone Holden]

webwiz

The information on a 1968 electoral register in the UK, would have been compiled from information received anything upto 12 months before. We are talking pre-computers.

I don't know about Australian Rolls, but I would expect the same applies - the information given on the 1968 roll would have been gathered maybe up to 12 months before. It's difficult to see how it could ever have been any more accurate than that, as the rolls were compiled and typed up once a year.

I fell into a huge pit with a similar thing myself, thinking that a street directory was current for 1899 when in fact it held information that must have been gathered in 1897 if not earlier, certainly not in 1899.

OC

[webwiz]

You are right that it could take months to prepare the list but the question is what date is applied to the list? In the UK, and I assume Australia, the form that voters fill out specifies a date, it is this date that determines who goes on the form and it is my understanding that it is this date which is applied to the list, not the date when it is published which could be a year later. Street directories are a different matter, as the publisher wants to sell them (or charge for advertising) he will want them to appear as up-to-date as possible.

But I stand to be corrected by someone with definite knowledge.

[kylejustin]

i'm wondering when the election was held, and what type of election it was? federal, state etc. then i might be able to narrow down the election date, and may have a window of separation.

[kylejustin]

oh, it was a by election! prime minister holt went missing, presumed drowned at sea, in december 1967. they concluded on 15 jan he was dead, and they held an election on 24 feb 1968. the previous election was 1966. so how quickly do you think they could gathered the electoral information? between dec and feb?

[Olde Crone Holden]

webwiz

Yes, I see what you mean about the date applied to the Roll.

kyle

I don't think they would specifically gather a roll just for an election, they would just use which was the most current roll at that time, so any time from 1966 onwards.

In the UK nowadays, the information is usually gathered in September/October. Presumably nowadays, any additions and subtractions are done as they go along, so the register is always reasonably current. Have you found them on the 1966 electoral register?

OC

[margaretmarch]

Yes, the rolls are kept up to date these days. I was looking at this today on a council website and they said it is updated monthly with changes people report, however - who thinks to report to the electoral roll people that you have moved away?? no-one I would suggest, and so it is Oct each year that gleans the most up to date information here in the UK when a fresh register is compiled from the forms returned by occupiers.

Margaret

[Olde Crone Holden]

Not really relevant, but my eldest daughter went into the forces in 1986 and had a postal vote from our address. Despite telling them umpteen times that she has moved (about 20 times!) married (twice), she STILL has a postal vote from that address! They finally stopped sending the papers about five years ago.

OC

[dicole]

I think the rolls used to close about 4 weeks before the election. I think they generally issued a new roll when the boundaries of electorates changed and there was an election coming up. In the case of the byelection of 1968, I think they would have issued a supplementary roll for changes since the last one went out. Some of my people have two entries in 1968. If you go to page one in the images of their electorate, you may see "suopplementary roll" heading.

In the pre-computer days, the Electoral Commission would marry the two later on, before the next state or federal election, especially, in the case of the by-election, which was only for one electorate, not the whole country. A federal election was held in Oct 1969 after some boundary changes, so a new roll would have been issued then. the State elections (Victoria) were not held until 1970.

You could look at the Australian Electoral Commission website for more definite info. You can also look at current rolls on the computer, if you go and visit their offices.

Di

[dicole]

Are you sure the addresses are totally different ? I have family members who appear to live at different addresses, but are in fact variations of the same - some give a house or property name while others of the same family have a street number and street name - all depends on how you filled out the enrolment form, and each person did their own separately. Also allow for errors in transferring the information from the form to the typist to the printer.........

[grumpy]

As far as I am aware once you are on an electoral role as a registered voter you are on it until information is received that alters
the original in some shape or form. Therefore your grandparents may have seperated any time back to the last election and then
taken the trouble to register their new situation. After the closing of the rolls the information that is on file will be the basis of the
rolls for the upcoming election. These days I think it is a week but back on 1968 it may have been a trifle longer taking note that
the rolls were then compiled semi manually.

[JBee]

In England - If I'm correct the electoral registration forms for the following year go out in Oct to be filled in by the householder. In February the electors roll is produced and it's up to you to check that it's correct in time for the May elections. As mine hasn't changed for donkey's years then the completed printed form arrives in October and is just signed and returned - there is an option to do it online.

[dicole]

In England - If I'm correct the electoral registration forms for the following year go out in Oct to be filled in by the householder. In February the electors roll is produced and it's up to you to check that it's correct in time for the May elections. As mine hasn't changed for donkey's years then the completed printed form arrives in October and is just signed and returned - there is an option to do it online.

In Aus, we only have to enroll once, or re-enrol if you change address. Lately, the AEC has been sending out cards to remind you (or tell you if its changed) which is your electorate, but you don't have to do anything with it. Before the last election our electorate changed twice and now its back where it was when we moved here - we went from Parramatta to Bennelong (no election) but for some reason then to Reid, voted one election, now back in Parramatta. That's federally, have not changed our state electorate though. I just found the AEC website and you can now check your own enrolment on line, but it would difficult to look up anyone without their street address.

[kylejustin]

my grandparents are in 2 different apartments, at 2 separate streets, that meet at a roundabout. so still seemingly separated, but close by.

i can only find my grandmother in the 1968, 72 and 77 electoral rolls. my grandfather died in 1973, and they had separated for good after 1968. he is with his parents in the 72 rolls.

it's just not adding up. the more i learn of my grandparents, the more confused i get!

[dicole]

So you're concerned that they had separated before 1968 ?

Although no rolls are on-line through ancestry between 1963 and 1968, I am sure that if there are more, then the local State Library (I know the SL of NSW has a large collection in their f.h. area) will have them on microfiche - they are organised by electorate, but if you know where they were in 1968, you can work backwards from there until you find them together, unless they moved a long way to their 1968 addresses. THere are street indexes for each roll to give you the right electorate.

[kylejustin]

they married 65, had kids in 67 and 68......so if they were separated before 68, there are a few questions concerning my father's legiticimacy!

[dicole]

Well, maybe they tried to reconcile, a couple of times on and off, many people did try, especially in the 60s when it was harder to get a divorce (no "irretrievable breakdown" then) and often a new baby was the result. Maybe that's why they lived so close together in the 68 Rolls.

Its probably a bit soon to be able to get the divorce records and see what was said at the time ! Who divorced whom, do you know ? Presumably grandfather accepted that he was the father of your father, but I am guessing that as he died not long after, its hard to know the situation.

[Mary from Italy]

You may find the divorce in the Archives Investigator if they were in NSW; I've seen divorces as late as 1972 there (not sure what date they go up to).

http://investigator.records.nsw.gov.au/Search.aspx

[webwiz]

they married 65, had kids in 67 and 68......so if they were separated before 68, there are a few questions concerning my father's legiticimacy!

Maybe that's why your grandfather left?