The Australian Electoral Commission has received a four page submission asking for Queensland’s proposed new federal seat to be named in honour of past Australian Idol contestant and former Young Diva, Ricki-Lee Coulter.

“I submit that this choice of name would leverage synergies between reality television and electoral process, progress the cause of youth electoral engagement and help project a contemporary understanding of Queensland as a vibrant place in which young Australians, and in particular young women, are valued and recognised for their contributions to nation-building,” says Claudia Marckx in her four page submission. “Further, given the understanding of the lives of working Australian families that is demonstrated in Coulter’s catalogue of songs, such a choice would also accord with modern Australian values.” The submission also requests that Twitter be used to announce the name of the new division, further engaging youth.

The submission argues that these days reality TV “represents the main form of democratic engagement which young Australians experience prior to attaining voting rights at age 18” and that “Ricki-Lee Coulter’s unexpected early departure from Australian Idol was indeed an object lesson to young Australians about the importance of making your vote count.”

At times the submission walks a fine line between obsessive fandom and over the top satire.

“Queensland’s state slogan ‘the smart state’ would ring truer if this new electoral division where to be named in recognition of this young Queensland entrepreneur and artiste, for a smart state is surely one that recognises and celebrates its greatest assets, and the youth of Queensland are not only its future but its present.”

The submission strongly argued that Ricki-Lee’s music is proof that she’s a woman in touch with grassroots Australia. “With true Aussie determination, Coulter… released her gold-certified debut album Ricki-Lee [including] three top-twenty singles, including the seminal meditation on working-class life in Australia Hell No! (“Workin’ hard, two jobs, just to get by / Got a boss that’s makin’ my head fly”).”

According to the Courier Mail, the pitch for Coulter is competing with an ALP submission to name the new seat after former Queensland premier and deputy prime minister Edward “Red Ted” Theodore, and an LNP submission to name it in honour of former federal minister Sir James Killen.

“This submission is no more or less of a joke than any of the other submissions,” Marckx told Same Same. “The Liberals want to name it after a former Liberal party politician, the ALP after a former ALP politician. What a surprise – self-serving promotion of dead male politicians. Most existing electorates are named after male politicians. I’ve even heard people talking of the possibility of a Division of Bjelke-Peterson. Naming an electoral division, which we hope is decided upon fairly to advance democracy, after someone who ruled for years because of a gerrymander would be far more ridiculous than a Division of Coulter.

“Moreover, the idea of using something such as the naming of an electoral division to engage young Australians in the electoral process is not a joke. Reality TV and pop music are two things that young people engage with – and Australian Idol blends the two with voting. So why not take the opportunity to leverage off that?”

Marckx says that she hasn’t heard anything back yet from the AEC about the submission. “People have a couple of weeks to comment on the suggestions and then a committee considers it all and makes a proposal. I think the whole process takes a good six months more from here, there’s a lot to work out.”

Ricki-Lee has been in LA working on her third studio album set for release late 2009. She’s currently up for her first Logie Nomination for Most Popular New Talent for her participation as a co-host on Australian Idol.

Should they name the new QLD seat after Ricki-Lee Coulter? Vote now.

Read the submission in full here.