The Australian Bureau of Statistics’ decision to include personal identifiers on ballot papers for a same-sex marriage postal vote next month has raised concerns over the separation of voter identity and vote cast, the Guardian reports. Monique Mann, co-chair of the surveillance committee of the Australian Privacy Foundation, warns, “There is a real potential for a chilling effect — if people believe that their vote in the survey is not secret, that may influence the way they choose to vote, or indeed if they vote at all.” The ABS maintains that survey responses would be “anonymous and protected under the secrecy provisions” of the Census and Statistics Act and is reported to help protect against fraud and multiple voting. 
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