Glitter no survey help

SAME-SEX marriage survey forms decorated with glitter won’t be actively encouraged, but could still be processed, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said.

ABS deputy statistician Jonathan Palmer, who is in charge of the $122 million poll, told a Senate inquiry yesterday he would be instructing Australians to use a dark pen or pencil and not include any “extraneous material” in the return envelopes.

“I think glitter is particularly problematic because these forms have to go through a scanning machine and I’m pretty sure they are not robust to lots of glitter,” he said.

An online campaign is encouraging voters to tick “yes” and include glitter in the envelope.