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Speaker 1: We are just sixty days out from the Northern Territory

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Speaker 1: general election. Territorians have being reminded to get prepared to

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Speaker 1: ensure that they can vote for the future leaders. And

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Speaker 1: joining me on the line to tell us what we

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Speaker 1: need to know is the Northern Territories Electoral Commissioner Kirsten Kelly,

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Speaker 1: Good morning to you.

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Speaker 2: Good morning Katie, thanks.

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Speaker 1: So much for your time this morning. Now is now

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Speaker 1: the time for people to enroll to vote.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely, and now is the time for people to enroll

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Speaker 2: to vote, particularly if you're going to be eighteen before

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Speaker 2: election day or on election day. But also it's important

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Speaker 2: for Territorians to check that they're correctly enrolled. So they

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Speaker 2: may have voted an election previously, but it's a great

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Speaker 2: time now to go on line and check that they're

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Speaker 2: correctly enrolled. They might have moved house and so just

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Speaker 2: check that you're enrolled in the right division to vote

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Speaker 2: it this year's election.

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Speaker 1: And what's the best way to do that or what's

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Speaker 1: the easiest way to check that you're actually enrolled?

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Speaker 2: Yeah? Absolutely, So you can contact the Anti Electoral Commission

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Speaker 2: and we can help you over the phone, or you

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Speaker 2: can go to this drain Electoral Commission or the Anti

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Speaker 2: Electoral Commission website, and there's a check your enrollment link

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Speaker 2: there now.

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Speaker 1: For anyone who may not have bothered sort of enrolling

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Speaker 1: to vote at this time. Why is it so important?

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Speaker 2: Look, it's really important to vote at elections. It's compulsory

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Speaker 2: to vote, it's a compulsory to be enrolled, and it's

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Speaker 2: compulsory to vote in election. So it's really important that

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Speaker 2: people do enroll and they do participate in the elections

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Speaker 2: and have their say.

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Speaker 1: Now in terms of the Commission undertaking activities to sort

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Speaker 1: of increase the enrollment and vote to turnout, are there

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Speaker 1: different things that you guys are doing.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, so we've certainly ramped up our communications in the

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Speaker 2: lead up to the election. So we've got remote teams

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Speaker 2: out in remote communities talking about the election and sharing

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Speaker 2: information and checking enrollments, and we're also participating. You'll be

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Speaker 2: seeing things on television on radio now just reminding people

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Speaker 2: to enroll the vote, and we'll be participating a lot

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Speaker 2: of community events. So please if you see our team

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Speaker 2: out and about, we can actually check your enrollment. Will

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Speaker 2: be at all the show circuits across the territory, So

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Speaker 2: it's certainly very easy to come and check that you're

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Speaker 2: correctly enrolled.

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Speaker 1: Have you found or I know, obviously it was the

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Speaker 1: it was the Australian Electoral Commission when it came to

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Speaker 1: the you know, to the vote for the voice, But

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Speaker 1: have you found that those numbers or that that voter

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Speaker 1: awareness has maybe increased a little bit as a result

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Speaker 1: of that.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, so there's certainly there's more people on the role

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Speaker 2: in the Northern Territory than ever. We've got ninety three

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Speaker 2: percent of eligible people enrolled, so that's one hundred and

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Speaker 2: fifty four just over one hundred and fifty four thousand

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Speaker 2: territory and to our enrolled. So that did increase in

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Speaker 2: the lead up to the referendum where the Australian Electoral

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Speaker 2: Commission applied what's called our Federal Direct Enrollment Program, which

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Speaker 2: meant that they could use reliable data such as human

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Speaker 2: service data to cross check with people to make sure

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Speaker 2: that they were in where they had an entitlement to

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Speaker 2: be enrolled. Were added to the role. So that means

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Speaker 2: that there's probably been an increase of over ten thousand

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Speaker 2: people now since the last election that are now on

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Speaker 2: the role through that program, which is a good one

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Speaker 2: and how the main thing is is for people to

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Speaker 2: check that they're correctly enrolled and then plan to where

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Speaker 2: they're going to vote and then vote.

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Speaker 1: Now, for people needing to do a postal vote, how

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Speaker 1: soon are they going to need to register to do that?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, So postal vote applications for general elections opened on

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Speaker 2: the first of January this year, so people can apply

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Speaker 2: online now or they can bring up and be assisted

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Speaker 2: over the phone through the Anti Electoral Commission Office them

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Speaker 2: to make a postal vote application. So we also have

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Speaker 2: all of our voting centers are now public and available

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Speaker 2: online to see, so we're certainly asking territorians to check

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Speaker 2: their enrollment. Look online. We've got to now find my

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Speaker 2: Closest Voting Center tool on the website and you can

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Speaker 2: see where your closest voting center is for early voting

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Speaker 2: or on election day, and if none of those options

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Speaker 2: are available to you or you're not able to physically

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Speaker 2: access the voting center, the postal voting option is there

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Speaker 2: for you as well.

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Speaker 1: They have just joined us. We are listening to the

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Speaker 1: Anti Electoral Commissioner Kirsten Kelly Kurston. Can you tell us

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Speaker 1: in terms of some of those arrangements in remote communities.

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Speaker 1: Are there different you know, are there different ways that

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Speaker 1: you guys are trying to make sure that as many

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Speaker 1: people out in remote communities do indeed make sure that

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Speaker 1: they head to the polls to vote.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely so, our team's been out on the grounds and

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Speaker 2: they're actually part of a nineteen week program visiting over

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Speaker 2: seventeen communities across the Northern Territory. And before they go

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Speaker 2: out to community, theyare liaising with community groups and businesses

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Speaker 2: and organizations in community to let them know that they're coming.

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Speaker 2: When they're in community, they're hosting morning tees and barbecues

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Speaker 2: and bringing people together to talk about the election, and

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Speaker 2: like I said, checking that people are enrolled and just

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Speaker 2: keeping the story and the message going about the election

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Speaker 2: in August, and we'll certainly be keeping people in community

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Speaker 2: aware about when the mobile teams will be coming to community.

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Speaker 1: Yep.

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Speaker 2: And as I said earlier, there's the functionality where you

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Speaker 2: can check your Closest Voting Center tool online and that

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Speaker 2: also includes remote communities. So if someone went and did

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Speaker 2: a search for Papunya, they'd be able to see where

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Speaker 2: the closest mobile teams will be visiting and when they'll

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Speaker 2: be visiting to support them participating in.

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Speaker 1: Terms of care take the mode. When does that sort

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Speaker 1: of kick off for the government.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, that would be a question for the chiefe.

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Speaker 1: Okay, that's all good. Yeah, well, all these important dates,

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Speaker 1: you know, trying to make sure we're on top of everything.

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Speaker 1: In terms of the changes to the electoral boundaries. I'm

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Speaker 1: sure that most people have probably got a fairly good

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Speaker 1: gauge if they are in an electorate where some of

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Speaker 1: those boundaries may have changed. But are there any areas

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Speaker 1: that you know that you can make our listeners aware

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Speaker 1: of in case that they're not. I know there's some

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Speaker 1: changes in the likes of karama As I understand it

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Speaker 1: some also for the electorate of Fanny Bay.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. So on the Anti Electoral Commission website the redistribution

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Speaker 2: reports available there which talks about the boundaries that have changed.

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Speaker 2: So it's really important to understand that where there's increases enrollment,

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Speaker 2: there's often boundary changes and we're required to look at

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Speaker 2: the boundary distribution the lead up to every general elections

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Speaker 2: to make sure that there's an equal distribution of electors

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Speaker 2: in all of the divisions. So where we're seeing population growth,

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Speaker 2: so around suburbs like Palmerston with residential subdivisions in Secoli,

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Speaker 2: there are changes there. We will be doing letterbox drops

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Speaker 2: to people that are affected by the changes, so they'll

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Speaker 2: know that they're changed. But a really important way that

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Speaker 2: people can go and check their enrollment and they'll be

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Speaker 2: able to see if their division has changed between elections,

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Speaker 2: but that redistribution report will identify where those changes have

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Speaker 2: occurred as well, So the website will be a good

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Speaker 2: source of information, but we will be communicating with people

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Speaker 2: that are affected by that change. If they have their

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Speaker 2: mobile phone and email registered on their enrollment, we'll contact

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Speaker 2: them through that, but will also be doing letterbox drops

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Speaker 2: in those areas that are affected.

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Speaker 1: In terms of the finalization of candidates, when do people

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Speaker 1: need to sort of have notified if they are planning

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Speaker 1: to run.

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Speaker 2: So nominations open on the first of August, so that's

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Speaker 2: when nomination can be received. But we are running some

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Speaker 2: candidate information sessions in the coming weeks. I think the

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Speaker 2: fourth of July will be in Alice Springs and running

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Speaker 2: an information session there, and then the week after that

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Speaker 2: will be running one in Dawen. So there's information about

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Speaker 2: those sessions on our website, but there's also going to

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Speaker 2: be in the newspapers giving information. If you're not sure

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Speaker 2: and you're interested in coming to learn about being nominating

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Speaker 2: to be a candidate or understanding about what your role's

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Speaker 2: responsibilities are, then you can come along to one of

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Speaker 2: those sessions and learn about that.

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Speaker 1: Were always heaps of info as well on the Northern

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Speaker 1: Territory Electoral Commission website, including that little counter that you

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Speaker 1: told me about last time we were on air. In

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Speaker 1: fifty nine days and twenty two hours is how long

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Speaker 1: it is to tell the election cursed it.

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Speaker 2: And that's election day. So voting actually starts on the

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Speaker 2: twilts of August, so it's less than that so when

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Speaker 2: people can actually start voting so early voting will start

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Speaker 2: from the twurths of August. So yes, it's the countdown

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Speaker 2: clock to election day. But the activity is certainly happening

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Speaker 2: well in advertis Yeah.

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Speaker 1: Absolutely, Well, really good to speak with you this morning.

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Speaker 1: I really appreciate your time. I think it gives our

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Speaker 1: listeners that bit of info that they need if they're

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Speaker 1: needing to make sure that they get on the electoral role,

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Speaker 1: if they're not all ready, or if they've changed where

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Speaker 1: they live or if they need to update any of

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Speaker 1: their details or do a postal vote. It is all

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Speaker 1: so important and I just think it's so important that

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Speaker 1: you do make sure that you get out there and vote.

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Speaker 1: Are there fines if people don't turn up to vote.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, so it is compulsory to vote in the Northern

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Speaker 2: Territory and so fines will be issued and the fine

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Speaker 2: and is twenty five dollars.

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Speaker 1: All right, Well, Kirsten Kelly, the Northern Territory Electoral Commissioner,

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Speaker 1: really appreciate your time this morning. Thanks so much for

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Speaker 1: having a Jack.

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Speaker 2: Katie this throughmind. I've just found that information about the

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Speaker 2: candidate information session awesome, absolutely so in Alice Springs on

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Speaker 2: the fourth of July from eleven till twelve at the

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Speaker 2: Andy McNeil room in Alice Springs at Alice Springstown Council

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Speaker 2: And for anyone in Darwin, it'll be at the CDU

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Speaker 2: Waterfront Theater Auditorium and that will be on the tenth

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Speaker 2: of July from one to two. The CDU Waterfront session

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Speaker 2: will be live stream, so anyone who can't physically make

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Speaker 2: it can apply for a link and watch that candid

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Speaker 2: Information session live stream.

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Speaker 1: Good stuff. Excellent. Well, thank you so very much for

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Speaker 1: your time this morning.

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Speaker 2: Really appreciate it anytime, Katie, thanks, thank you,