Electoral rolls
The electoral roll (or electoral register) is a listing of all those registered to vote in a particular area. Electoral Rolls can help locate names and addresses of Tasmanians.
The earliest electoral rolls in Australia date from the 1840s, for New South Wales and a little later for Victoria. In Tasmania only landholders were eligible to vote at first; but most men were able to vote for the Legislative Assembly, which was established in 1856. This is the earliest Tasmanian roll. Women were not given the right to vote in Tasmania until 1903.
Compulsory voting for Federal elections in Australia was not introduced until 1924, so you might not find names on the rolls prior to that date. Voting is now compulsory for all Australian citizens and is also open to British citizens who have been resident in Australia since before 1984.
Compilation of an annual electoral roll for the Commonwealth of Australia commenced following federation in 1901. For some years afterwards, the individual States also compiled State electoral rolls, but (with the exception of Western Australia) these have been discontinued, and State and local elections are today based upon the Commonwealth electoral roll.
The roll is compiled by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) on a state/territory-wide basis, in alphabetical order of surname. Prior to 1988 electoral rolls were compiled by polling division and sub-division.
For electoral divisions see: Tasmanian electoral handbook, 1851-1982 by Scott Bennett and Barbara Bennett, Commonwealth of Australia, 1901-1988, electoral redistributions produced by the Australian Electoral Commission and the Australian Surveying and Land Information Group, Dept. of Administrative Services (covers all of Australia, including Tasmania). Current Tasmanian electoral divisions are available online.
