THE AUSTRALIAN ELECTORAL COMMISSION (AEC)
The changes to the Electoral Act in 1983-4 established the AEC as a Statutory Authority no longer responsible to Parliament.
The Commission is managed by three members:
In a 1998 interview, the then Electoral Commissioner stated that the aim of the Commission was to make as many electorates as possible marginal by redistributions at specified periods . The optimum population size in each electorate is around 80,000-90,000 persons.
Decisions on boundaries are negotiated with and between the political parties based on the advice of the Australian Statistician.
Disputes arise with both Federal and State decisions about electorate boundaries. Submissions often follow to both the Federal and State Joint Standing Committees (JSCEMs) on Electoral matters. Cases affecting the outcomes of elections, dependent on evidence submitted, reflect on the reputation of the AEC and its officials.
The officials are meant to be politically impartial but evidence has been submitted to the JSCEMs claiming that bias exists amongst AEC employees working on election days.
The investigation in early 2014 by former Federal Police Commission Mick Keelty into the loss of 1370 votes by the AEC in the 7 September 2013 WA Senate election showed inadequacies and incompetence by the AEC and the unchecked opportunities for political bias.
Some examples supported by Statutory Declarations include:
i). Wollondilly March 2007. Van loads of young voters and individuals were seen to enter polling places several times during election day and then moving on to the next polling place to enter the voting precinct again. The reports to the State Electoral Commissioner dated 5 – 22 May 2007, with eight statutory declarations attached, were dismissed without investigation and at the JSCEM on 11 March 2008 the Commissioner’s evidence concerning alleged multiple voting did not deal with the evidence in the Statutory Declarations.
ii) Reports of multiple voting in Bennelong and Kingsford Smith electorates in November in 2007 submitted to the 2008 JSCEM were not followed up.
iii) Reports by a group of Divisional Returning Officers in Queensland in 2007-8 about introducing a centralised data control system similar in concept to the South African ID/voting-once-only system were not followed up nor implemented despite supporting submissions from other voters.
iv) A member of a political Party submitted a Statutory Declaration to the JSCEM stating that, when a member of a political party, he had been instructed at his Party’s head office in Sydney, with members of Parliament present, to multiple vote. He stated that this practice was endemic in the Party to which he had belonged for many years. He had become opposed to that Party when a promise was broken.
No action by the AEC followed this advice.
v) Intimidation/physical repercussions followed the win of a by-election by a Liberal Party member when he won the seat of Mundingburra in 1996 after inefficiencies by the AEC in administering the election. That win brought down the Goss government. The unions took retaliatory action against the successful candidate.
vi) The Cooke Inquiry - Marshall Cooke QC investigated the elections of a number of Trade Unions. In the Liquor Trades Union the AEC Officer reported cases of fraudulent voting slips resulting in branch stacking. His report was blocked by the Queensland Office of the AEC for a long time. When it surfaced, the result of the previous election was set aside. After the investigation an attack was made upon his property by starting a fire.
vii) A scrutineer at Clovelly Polling Place in the 2007 Federal election reported that the AEC officer in charge of the Kingsford Smith section of the Polling place had commented at the end of the count to the other AEC employees “We’ve won!”.
The winner was the ALP Candidate, Peter Garrett.
For other examples see Shepherdson Inquiry 2000, Macquarie election 1993, Cooke Inquiry 2000 and the change of the rules concerning pre-poll voting 2013.
The Commission is managed by three members:
- the Chairman (who must be an active or retired judge of the Federal Court of Australia)
- the Electoral Commissioner
- the Australian Statistician (head of the Australian Bureau of Statistics)
In a 1998 interview, the then Electoral Commissioner stated that the aim of the Commission was to make as many electorates as possible marginal by redistributions at specified periods . The optimum population size in each electorate is around 80,000-90,000 persons.
Decisions on boundaries are negotiated with and between the political parties based on the advice of the Australian Statistician.
Disputes arise with both Federal and State decisions about electorate boundaries. Submissions often follow to both the Federal and State Joint Standing Committees (JSCEMs) on Electoral matters. Cases affecting the outcomes of elections, dependent on evidence submitted, reflect on the reputation of the AEC and its officials.
The officials are meant to be politically impartial but evidence has been submitted to the JSCEMs claiming that bias exists amongst AEC employees working on election days.
The investigation in early 2014 by former Federal Police Commission Mick Keelty into the loss of 1370 votes by the AEC in the 7 September 2013 WA Senate election showed inadequacies and incompetence by the AEC and the unchecked opportunities for political bias.
Some examples supported by Statutory Declarations include:
i). Wollondilly March 2007. Van loads of young voters and individuals were seen to enter polling places several times during election day and then moving on to the next polling place to enter the voting precinct again. The reports to the State Electoral Commissioner dated 5 – 22 May 2007, with eight statutory declarations attached, were dismissed without investigation and at the JSCEM on 11 March 2008 the Commissioner’s evidence concerning alleged multiple voting did not deal with the evidence in the Statutory Declarations.
ii) Reports of multiple voting in Bennelong and Kingsford Smith electorates in November in 2007 submitted to the 2008 JSCEM were not followed up.
iii) Reports by a group of Divisional Returning Officers in Queensland in 2007-8 about introducing a centralised data control system similar in concept to the South African ID/voting-once-only system were not followed up nor implemented despite supporting submissions from other voters.
iv) A member of a political Party submitted a Statutory Declaration to the JSCEM stating that, when a member of a political party, he had been instructed at his Party’s head office in Sydney, with members of Parliament present, to multiple vote. He stated that this practice was endemic in the Party to which he had belonged for many years. He had become opposed to that Party when a promise was broken.
No action by the AEC followed this advice.
v) Intimidation/physical repercussions followed the win of a by-election by a Liberal Party member when he won the seat of Mundingburra in 1996 after inefficiencies by the AEC in administering the election. That win brought down the Goss government. The unions took retaliatory action against the successful candidate.
vi) The Cooke Inquiry - Marshall Cooke QC investigated the elections of a number of Trade Unions. In the Liquor Trades Union the AEC Officer reported cases of fraudulent voting slips resulting in branch stacking. His report was blocked by the Queensland Office of the AEC for a long time. When it surfaced, the result of the previous election was set aside. After the investigation an attack was made upon his property by starting a fire.
vii) A scrutineer at Clovelly Polling Place in the 2007 Federal election reported that the AEC officer in charge of the Kingsford Smith section of the Polling place had commented at the end of the count to the other AEC employees “We’ve won!”.
The winner was the ALP Candidate, Peter Garrett.
For other examples see Shepherdson Inquiry 2000, Macquarie election 1993, Cooke Inquiry 2000 and the change of the rules concerning pre-poll voting 2013.