Melbourne man Anthony Murphy has lost a High Court bid to give people more time to enrol to vote before the next federal election.
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Mr Murphy, who also unsuccessfully challenged the East West Link in the High Court in 2014, led a challenge to a law that suspends voter enrolment a week after an election is called. They argued it was unconstitutional because it disenfranchised voters. Tens of thousands of people had failed to vote in the last election because they tried to enrol during the suspension period, Mr Murphy said in court documents.
The High Court unanimously rejected their application on Thursday, and ordered Mr Murphy to pay the Commonwealth's costs. It will publish its reasons for the decision at a later date.
Activist group GetUp, which raised money to indemnify a person it had considered adding to the list of plaintiffs in the case, offered to refund donors on its website.
Asked whether GetUp would fund Mr Murphy's costs, its democracy campaign director Josh Genner said "At this stage it's with the Commonwealth to decide whether they pursue (costs). It's our hope they will understand and respect that a man of humble means was bringing on a case solely and wholly in the public interest."
