At first glance, a spike in the matters dealt with in the ACT's criminal courts last year looks like the capital may have seen a sharp increase in crims appearing before judges, with a 46 per cent increase in the number of defendants finalised by the courts in 2017-18.
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On second look, the picture is slightly clearer, with the majority of that increase caused by those pinged for failing to vote. There was an increase of 2494 matters finalised in the court system in that year, and 2101 of those matters were in the "offences against justice" category, which includes failing to vote.
In the year before, that category included just 221 people.
The ACT experienced a similar spike in finalised court matters in 2013-14, which like last year was the financial year following a territory election. There was also an increase in 2009-10.
But the ACT isn't a hot spot of non-voting, even if the statistics seem to suggest it.
"Looking at the other states and territories, we’re not seeing anything to suggest there’s a problem," said Will Milne, the director of the Australian Bureau of Statistics' National Centre for Crime and Justice Statistics.
Similar spikes in offences against justice were seen in New South Wales and Victoria after elections in those states, though they don't have a similarly sized impact on their overall statistics.
Deputy ACT Electoral Commissioner Ro Spence said voter turnout in the nation's capital, where many are employed in the business of governing, was "generally pretty high".
"It's certainly not a standout of any other jurisdiction," Mr Spence said.
If someone fails to vote in the ACT, they are sent a letter giving them a chance to say they had a reasonable excuse, or pay a $20 fine. If that first notice is ignored, it's sent another two times before someone ends up in court.
After the last territory election, 21,372 of these notices went out to electors who appeared to fail to vote, and after the process of notices, summons were issued to 2015 apparent non-voters, ACT Elections statistics show.
Of those 2015, 1183 summons were withdrawn prior to their day in court, with just 832 heard by a magistrate.
While Mr Spence said he couldn't speak for other jurisdictions, fines and processes surrounding non-voters differed between jurisdictions.
An ACT Legislative Assembly committee recommended in 2017 that the fine for not voting be increased to $75. That recommendation has not been acted on.
