These declarations are reviewed and validated (for example, to ensure the voter is correctly enrolled[2]) before the corresponding special vote is counted.
[3][4] Three weeks after the preliminary (election day) result is released, the official election result is released which includes all valid special votes.
[5] Special votes at local elections are usually provided in-person.
Special voting in parliamentary elections became available for the first time in 1905 as an extension of the absentee voting right held by merchant seafarers, commercial travellers and shearers.
[8] The term "special vote" appeared for the first time in legislation in the Electoral Act 1956.
[19] Analysis of comparisons between post-1996 election night results and official results indicate that special voters are more likely to vote for left-leaning political parties and tend to be younger and more transient than the average voter.