Australian Electoral Commission to expand telephone voting for people with COVID in 2022 federal election

Australian Electoral Commissioner Tom Rogers confirmed that every single Australian of voting age who has tested positive to COVID will be able to access their vote after an apparent loophole emerged in the legislation that was set to prevent many from having their say.

"With many jurisdictions internationally not offering voting services for COVID+ voters during the pandemic, we're proud to be delivering the combination of safe and secure voting services for all voters," Mr Rogers said.

"We heard from community members who did not apply for a postal vote before the deadline, we acted to extend the phone voting service and all COVID+ voters can vote in the election."

The AEC said it acted to resolve the issue after hearing from COVID-positive people who had missed their chance to apply for a postal vote.

Before the intervention, postal vote applications closed at 6pm on Wednesday, leaving many voters without an avenue to cast their ballot.

Newly eligible voters can register for the service on the AEC website.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison confirmed the change, saying the government had agreed to Mr Rogers' recommendation.

"He's worked through the logistics of all of that and what that means on their call centres, and all those sorts of things," Mr Morrison told Perth radio 6PR.

"We've made it very clear that we would be accepting any recommendations that came forward and this morning, finally, those recommendations have come forward."

Special Minister of State Ben Morton said the government, in consultation with the Opposition, had acted on advice provided by the electoral commission.

"It is important that every Australian who is enrolled and entitled to vote, be able to exercise their democratic right and this change ensures that," he said before signing off on the change.

The problem had been that according to the legislation passed by parliament, phone voting was available to people who tested positive after 6pm on Tuesday, but anyone who tested positive between Saturday and Tuesday must vote by post.

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A Melbourne independent candidate for the election was threatening to take the federal government to court in a bid to ensure people excluded by the postal deadline can instead vote by phone.

Teal independent Monique Ryan, who is running in Treasurer Josh Frydenberg's seat, said she was relieved the government had agreed to change the regulations.

After raising more than $126,000 for the court action, Ms Ryan said she intended to offer a refund on unspent funds, although some donors had indicated they did not want their money back.

"In that event, we will donate any remaining funds to a charitable legal advocacy fund to keep fighting for all Australians' ability to vote," she said.

It is believed more than 200,000 Australians tested positive for COVID-19 between Saturday and Tuesday, some of whom may have already cast their prepoll or postal ballot.