Sydney, Australia - ONE in five people who failed to vote in last year's federal election used their religion to avoid fines, prompting the Government to seek advice from the Australian Electoral Commission about the process used to hand out religious voting exemptions.
Of the 458,950 people who failed to vote in the October poll, 62,290 said religious beliefs stopped them from voting.
Under the Electoral Act, people can avoid fines by claiming their religious beliefs prevented them from voting.
Special Minister of State Eric Abetz said while he respected people's religious views, the religious exemption should not be abused. He has sought advice from the AEC about the matter.
"This figure is relatively high and represents 20 per cent of those who didn't vote," he said.
Assistant Electoral Commissioner Brian Hallett said there was no way of proving people were genuine when they used the clause. "We really don't have a lot of power to look behind that," he said.
Religious leaders representing faiths that observe the Sabbath expressed surprise at the number of religious non-voters.
Australia-Israel Jewish Affairs Council spokesman Jeremy Jones said some people might get "caught out" by forgetting to organise to vote before the day, but the majority would vote.
Seventh-Day Adventist spokeswoman Bruna Tawake said most people organised to vote before polling day.