Well election 2013, the first of many?

[ozbob]

AEC --> Australian Electoral Commission statement: WA Senate recount

Australian Electoral Commission statement: WA Senate recount

Electoral Commissioner Mr Ed Killesteyn said today the Western Australian Senate recount of votes will shortly be completed and the Australian Electoral Officer for WA, Mr Peter Kramer will shortly advise on a schedule for the distribution of preferences and declaration of the poll for newly elected Senators.

Mr Killesteyn and Mr Kramer thanked all the candidates and scrutineers involved with the recount for their patience, goodwill and professionalism. Mr Killesteyn also thanked WA AEC staff and management for their work in conducting the recount.

    "The recount was a complex process involving the physical rechecking of 1.3m Senate ballot papers over more than two weeks", Mr Killesteyn said. "A recount of this scale has not occurred since the AEC was established in 1984."

During the recount a serious administrative issue came to light which will be subject to further investigation.  Specifically, 1,375 votes - all of which had been verified during the initial WA Senate count - could not be located, rechecked or verified in the recount process. These votes were classified as 1,255 formal above-the-line ballots and 120 informal votes.

"I am advised by Mr Kramer – and I have reassured myself - that exhaustive efforts have been made to find the missing ballots at all premises where WA Senate votes were stored or moved during the 2013 federal election," Mr Killesteyn said.

"On behalf of the AEC I apologise to the electors of Western Australia and to the candidates and parties for this failure of the AEC".

Mr Killesteyn added that he has immediately initiated an urgent examination into the circumstances which led to the apparent misplaced ballot papers.

"I wish to advise that Mick Keelty AO APM, the distinguished former Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police, has agreed to undertake this task. His terms of reference include establishing the facts regarding the misplaced ballot papers, and identifying any administrative process and/or procedural failures that may have occurred as well as providing recommendations to avoid similar issues in the future.

"I wish to stress that Mr Keelty will undertake this investigation independently of the AEC and will be able to avail himself of whatever resources and access staff and information he may require to assist his examination of this matter."

Mr Killesteyn said he had requested a report urgently. The report will be considered by the full Electoral Commission, who will determine further actions after due consideration of the report's findings and recommendations. The Electoral Commission is a three person body, including the Electoral Commissioner, which has certain legislative powers defined in the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918.

Mr Killesteyn said that in concert with the investigation, the Electoral Commission would closely examine the Senate outcome in Western Australia and consider whether any petition to the Court of Disputed Returns is necessary. A time period of forty days is available from the return of the Senate writ for Western Australia for petition.

[ozbob]

^ 

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> WA Senate recount in turmoil as 1375 votes go missing

[aldonius]

Makes you wonder about every other Senate election ever, really...

[ozbob]

I think the only proper way out of this is a fresh election for the WA Senate, which no doubt will not go down well at all ...

[ozbob]

Twitter

Julia Holman ‏@JulesHolman

The @AusElectoralCom's Phil Diak says it's possible that WA may have to go to the polls again to re-elect their Senators #ausvotes #auspol

[STB]

Makes you wonder about every other Senate election ever, really...

Makes you wonder about this election overall.

I must say, I'm liking Clive Palmer more and more, as messes like this pop up which he has been going on about for a while now.

Honestly, I think an overhaul of how the government is elected and more weight to the minor parties so they are given a more fair chance at being represented in parliament needs to happen, to break up this Coles/Woolworths type set up with the major parties ie: ALP and LNP/Libs.

I heard that the election of Tony Abbott only took about 300,000 votes out of around 20million.  Now, if that's true, there's a serious problem at hand here.

[James]

Makes you wonder about this election overall.

I must say, I'm liking Clive Palmer more and more, as messes like this pop up which he has been going on about for a while now.

Honestly, I think an overhaul of how the government is elected and more weight to the minor parties so they are given a more fair chance at being represented in parliament needs to happen, to break up this Coles/Woolworths type set up with the major parties ie: ALP and LNP/Libs.

I heard that the election of Tony Abbott only took about 300,000 votes out of around 20million.  Now, if that's true, there's a serious problem at hand here.

However, those votes are broken down by divisions. 500 votes missing does not matter when the margin between the two major parties is one of several thousand votes. There is an issue, but I think it is being beaten up. Clive Palmer's electorate was the closest margin in the country, and given it had such a high-profile member (i.e. Palmer himself), it was worth double and triple checking. If it was just another ALP vs. LIB, nobody would really care because it would just be another drop in the ocean.

Theoretically, a party could get 74.99% of the 2PP national vote or so and still lose the election. (Get 100% of the 2PP vote in 74 seats, and 49.9% of the vote in 76 seats, with the opposition getting 50.1% in all those 76 seats).

A mess like this is rare, and I really think Palmer is a bit pathetic with some of his comments about the AEC being like the Egyptian military. It hasn't been for a long time that a recount has been needed in the senate.

If the margin is small enough that the lost votes could alter the outcome, West Australians will probably be forced back to the polls, which sure will impress people. The smart way of doing it, though, would be to trace the ballots to a particular voting booth and see if you could simply send back the people who voted in that booth to the polls. Sure, that one-booth election would probably get more attention than ever, but it would prevent having to drag the state through the voting process again.

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> Greens win senate seat in WA recount - taking it from Palmer's party

Fresh election looming ...

[ozbob]

Antony Green's Election Blog --> What's Going On With The WA Senate Count

[ozbob]

Twitter

Robert Dow ‏@Robert_Dow 15m

Petition lodged with Court of Disputed Returns --> http://www.aec.gov.au/media/media-releases/2013/11-15.htm ... #auspol #wapol round 2 coming up ...