Q. If voting at elections was voluntary (i.e. not compulsory) – how likely would you be to vote in the next Federal election?
Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
Total definitely/probably vote | 82% | 85% | 89% | 78% |
Total definitely/probably not vote | 14% | 12% | 9% | 19% |
Would definitely vote | 59% | 62% | 65% | 61% |
Would probably vote | 23% | 23% | 24% | 17% |
Probably wouldn’t vote | 10% | 8% | 7% | 18% |
Definitely wouldn’t vote | 4% | 4% | 2% | 1% |
Don’t know | 4% | 3% | 1% | 3% |
82% said they would definitely or probably vote if voting was voluntary. 14% said they definitely or probably would not vote.
Coalition and Labor voters were more likely to vote and Greens voters somewhat less likely.
By age, 73% of those aged under 35 said they would vote compared to 82% of those aged 35-54 and 91% of those aged 55+.
The estimated vote excluding those who would probably or definitely not vote produces a first preference vote of 52% Liberal/National, 30% Labor, 11% Greens and 7% other. The two-party preferred estimate is 58% Liberal/National and 42% Labor (compared to the current estimate of 57%/43%) – suggesting that voluntary voting would only very slightly advantage the Coalition.