¹ A Commonwealth Franchise Bill 1901 was introduced into the House of Representatives on 5 June 1901 and withdrawn on 3 April 1902. A virtually identical Bill, the Commonwealth Franchise Bill 1902, was introduced into the Senate on 4 April 1902.

² The first Parliament spent some time debating women's suffrage and speculating how women would vote. In the final chapter of the book, Jennifer Curtin scrutinises conventional wisdom that women vote conservatively. Her analysis of federal elections from 1910 to 1949 leads her to conclude that women's votes were shared between the major political parties.

³ Patricia Grimshaw, 'White Women as “Nation Builders”: Gender, Colonialism and the Federal Vote' in John Chesterman and David Philips (eds), Selective Democracy (2003) 1.

⁴ John Chesterman, 'An Unheard of Piece of Savagery: Indigenous Australians and the Federal Vote' in John Chesterman and David Philips (eds), Selective Democracy (2003) 21.

⁵ In John Chesterman and David Philips (eds), Selective Democracy (2003) 60.

⁶ Wayne Atkinson, 'What did the vote mean to Yorta Yorta Peoples?' in John Chesterman and David Philips (eds), Selective Democracy (2003) 32.

⁷ Tracey Banivanua Mar, 'No Aboriginal Native of … the Islands of the Pacific: South Sea Islanders and the Distant Vote of the Commonwealth' in John Chesterman and David Philips (eds), Selective Democracy (2003) 82.

⁸ Ibid.

⁹ Shurlee Swain, 'Numerous Enough to Swamp the Votes of Honest Whites: The Indigenous Franchise in Canada' in John Chesterman and David Philips (eds), Selective Democracy (2003) 50.

¹⁰ In Canada, women were not granted the vote and universal manhood suffrage was not introduced but some propertied Indigenous men were enfranchised: ibid.

¹¹ David Philips, 'Towards a White Man's Union: The Denial of the Indigenous Franchise in South Africa 1902 1910' in John Chesterman and David Philips (eds), Selective Democracy (2003) 38.

¹² The races power in section 51(xxvi) of the Constitution might also be employed to support such a law.

¹³ Brian Costar, 'Odious and Outmoded?: Race and Section 25 of the Constitution' in John Chesterman and David Philips (eds), Selective Democracy (2003) 89.

¹⁴ Kim Rubenstein, 'Can the Right to Vote be taken Away?: The Constitution , Citizens andVoting Rights in 1902 and 2002' in John Chesterman and David Philips (eds), Selective Democracy (2003) 100.

¹⁵ The disenfranchisement of offenders provision, which appeared in the CommonwealthFranchise Act 1902 (Cth) was not amended until 1983. It was next amended in 1995 and then in 2004.

¹⁶ (1983) 152 CLR 254.

¹⁷ These amendments commenced on 10 August 2004.

¹⁸ Such as offenders on parole or on community service orders: see Graeme Orr, 'Ballotless and Behind Bars: the Denial of the Franchise to Prisoners' (1998) 26 Federal Law Review 55.

¹⁹ Details are provided in the Bill's Explanatory Memorandum.

²⁰ The relevant provisions are backdated to commence on 10 August 2004 and apply irrespective of whether the offender started serving their sentence before or after the commencement of the relevant provisions in the Electoral and Referendum Amendment (Prisoner Voting and Other Measures) Act 2004 (Cth).

²¹ See, eg, Orr, above n 9 and also Jerome Davidson, 'Electoral and Referendum Amendment (Prisoner Voting and Other Measures) Bill 2004', Bills Digest No 28 (2004).

²² The Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia, Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters, Report of the Inquiry into the Conduct of the 2001 Federal Election, and Matters Related Thereto (2003) 56. The Committee's report indicates that most of the enrolments in the close of rolls period are re-enrolments, although about 10 per cent of eligible 18-year olds enrol during this time.

²³ John Chesterman and David Philips (eds), Selective Democracy (2003) x.

²⁴ New Zealand gave women the right to vote in 1893 but they did not gain the right to sit in Parliament until 1919. Canada did not give women the right to vote (and sit in Parliament) until 1918 (effective in 1919). In South Africa, as David Philips points out, white women were not enfranchised until 1930: Philips, above n 11, 38.