Electoral roll abuse
Please note - more entries will be gradually added in coming weeks
The loss of 1370 Senate votes in WA in the 2013 election compared with the discrepancy in the 1993 election won by the Labor Party by 1500 votes across Australia, suggests that the AEC has since improved in efficiency. In 1993, the total of formal and informal votes cast for the Senate showed 53,403 more votes cast for the Senate (10,954,260) than for the House of representatives (10,900,857). No report of an investigation of the cause of this result was available.
Early on 13th of December 2013, Sky News reported the following as coming from the Mick Keelty enquiry into the lost votes in WA.
“Officials also failed to assure themselves of the 'political neutrality' of people responsible for the transport and storage of ballots, parcels, boxes and pallets, he said.”
Although the following cases happened many years ago, they highlight the ability of the electoral roll to be abused due to vulnerabilities in the current enrolment and voting system. Many of these abuses are still open in 2013–14.
1988 Victorian Election - Ballarat South
Lost by Joan Chambers by 104 votes. From 1979 to 1982 the number of people on the electoral roll matched the numbers in the population census. In 1985 a discrepancy of 2000 people occurred. By the 1988 election there were around 5000 more names on the roll than in the census.
After the election the investigation of one third of the roll found 1506 suspicious names and addresses, of which the Electoral Commissioner confirmed 1081 did not exist as eligible voters. They also found 106 people voted twice, 367 people voted who did not live in the electorate.
1993 Federal Election- NSW seat of Macquarie
The long term sitting member Alasdair Webster lost by 164 votes to Maggie Deahm.
The Electoral Commissioner had issued 415 absentee Blaxland electorate (Paul Keatings’ electorate) ballot papers to residents of Blaxland, thus possibly allowing that those votes could be disallowed from applying to the Macquarie electorate - which happened at the count. Hundreds of addresses of voters found after the election were found to be holiday houses without occupants, vacant blocks, houses outside the electorate. The names of 140 Seventh Day adventists and 175 Plymouth Brethen who don’t vote on religous grounds were found to have been crossed off as having voted.
Complaints led to a Court of Disputed Returns chaired by High Court Judge Mary Gaudron. She advised that the case could proceed if these false names were all brought forward (and paid for). The estimated costs if Webster paid for this possible evidence (a penalty requirement under the 1984 amended Act) and proceeded with the legal preparation but lost the case was estimated at over $500,000. He withdrew his claim due to this cost, while the legal costs of Maggie Deahm (around $120,000) were largely awarded against him. Click here for more information.
1995 Queensland Election - Seat of Mundingburra
ALP's Ken Davies initially won this seat by 16 votes. After the loss, the Liberal Party candidate Frank Tanti uncovered some extensive cases of fraudulent alteration of the electoral roll.
Following a hearing by Judge Ambrose in the Court of Disputed Returns, November 1995, it was found that there had been significant faults made by the Electoral Commission officials, namely, people who were not residents and, therefore, ineligible to vote in that electorate had done so. It was also found that the votes of 22 soldiers serving in Rwanda had not been received before voting day. In light of this evidence the July 1995 result was overturned.
When most of the anomalies had been corrected, the By-election, in February 1996, was held and won by Tanti by 1084 votes, 1100 more than received in July ‘95. The loss of the one seat majority meant that the Goss government was replaced by a Liberal National Coalition government, led by Robert Borbidge.
The Labor Party had at first won government on a tainted vote and subsequently lost government when the frauds were discovered. The roll used in 1995 for that State election was largely the same roll used in the 1993 Federal election.
2010 Tasmanian postal-vote applications
As reported in Hobart’s “Mercury” newspaper (full article can be viewed here), the Labor Party sent Postal Vote applications forms to all 220,000 Tasmanian households in plain white envelopes, which at first glance appeared to come from the independent Electoral Commission. The leaflet inside was headed “Important Election Information” relating to March 20 State election.
Despite Liberal Party protests, Electoral Official Information manager Andrew Hawkey said political parties were allowed to mail out forms encouraging voters to apply for postal votes. He admitted the Commission would have preferred the opening page of the accompanying note to have stated more clearly that the hotline number was actually run by the Labor Party.
Unfortunately, postal voting is a path to double voting. Manipulators can postal vote and then turn up on election day to vote in the same name (or other names) and once the vote paper has been placed into the box there is no way of distinguishing which particular vote is fraudulent.
The Labor Party won that election.
The conditions under which a voter is permitted to vote by post are set out in the Commonwealth Electoral Act. If these are not followed, the voter will have acted illegally and should be prosecuted.
The loss of 1370 Senate votes in WA in the 2013 election compared with the discrepancy in the 1993 election won by the Labor Party by 1500 votes across Australia, suggests that the AEC has since improved in efficiency. In 1993, the total of formal and informal votes cast for the Senate showed 53,403 more votes cast for the Senate (10,954,260) than for the House of representatives (10,900,857). No report of an investigation of the cause of this result was available.
Early on 13th of December 2013, Sky News reported the following as coming from the Mick Keelty enquiry into the lost votes in WA.
“Officials also failed to assure themselves of the 'political neutrality' of people responsible for the transport and storage of ballots, parcels, boxes and pallets, he said.”
Although the following cases happened many years ago, they highlight the ability of the electoral roll to be abused due to vulnerabilities in the current enrolment and voting system. Many of these abuses are still open in 2013–14.
1988 Victorian Election - Ballarat South
Lost by Joan Chambers by 104 votes. From 1979 to 1982 the number of people on the electoral roll matched the numbers in the population census. In 1985 a discrepancy of 2000 people occurred. By the 1988 election there were around 5000 more names on the roll than in the census.
After the election the investigation of one third of the roll found 1506 suspicious names and addresses, of which the Electoral Commissioner confirmed 1081 did not exist as eligible voters. They also found 106 people voted twice, 367 people voted who did not live in the electorate.
1993 Federal Election- NSW seat of Macquarie
The long term sitting member Alasdair Webster lost by 164 votes to Maggie Deahm.
The Electoral Commissioner had issued 415 absentee Blaxland electorate (Paul Keatings’ electorate) ballot papers to residents of Blaxland, thus possibly allowing that those votes could be disallowed from applying to the Macquarie electorate - which happened at the count. Hundreds of addresses of voters found after the election were found to be holiday houses without occupants, vacant blocks, houses outside the electorate. The names of 140 Seventh Day adventists and 175 Plymouth Brethen who don’t vote on religous grounds were found to have been crossed off as having voted.
Complaints led to a Court of Disputed Returns chaired by High Court Judge Mary Gaudron. She advised that the case could proceed if these false names were all brought forward (and paid for). The estimated costs if Webster paid for this possible evidence (a penalty requirement under the 1984 amended Act) and proceeded with the legal preparation but lost the case was estimated at over $500,000. He withdrew his claim due to this cost, while the legal costs of Maggie Deahm (around $120,000) were largely awarded against him. Click here for more information.
1995 Queensland Election - Seat of Mundingburra
ALP's Ken Davies initially won this seat by 16 votes. After the loss, the Liberal Party candidate Frank Tanti uncovered some extensive cases of fraudulent alteration of the electoral roll.
Following a hearing by Judge Ambrose in the Court of Disputed Returns, November 1995, it was found that there had been significant faults made by the Electoral Commission officials, namely, people who were not residents and, therefore, ineligible to vote in that electorate had done so. It was also found that the votes of 22 soldiers serving in Rwanda had not been received before voting day. In light of this evidence the July 1995 result was overturned.
When most of the anomalies had been corrected, the By-election, in February 1996, was held and won by Tanti by 1084 votes, 1100 more than received in July ‘95. The loss of the one seat majority meant that the Goss government was replaced by a Liberal National Coalition government, led by Robert Borbidge.
The Labor Party had at first won government on a tainted vote and subsequently lost government when the frauds were discovered. The roll used in 1995 for that State election was largely the same roll used in the 1993 Federal election.
2010 Tasmanian postal-vote applications
As reported in Hobart’s “Mercury” newspaper (full article can be viewed here), the Labor Party sent Postal Vote applications forms to all 220,000 Tasmanian households in plain white envelopes, which at first glance appeared to come from the independent Electoral Commission. The leaflet inside was headed “Important Election Information” relating to March 20 State election.
Despite Liberal Party protests, Electoral Official Information manager Andrew Hawkey said political parties were allowed to mail out forms encouraging voters to apply for postal votes. He admitted the Commission would have preferred the opening page of the accompanying note to have stated more clearly that the hotline number was actually run by the Labor Party.
Unfortunately, postal voting is a path to double voting. Manipulators can postal vote and then turn up on election day to vote in the same name (or other names) and once the vote paper has been placed into the box there is no way of distinguishing which particular vote is fraudulent.
The Labor Party won that election.
The conditions under which a voter is permitted to vote by post are set out in the Commonwealth Electoral Act. If these are not followed, the voter will have acted illegally and should be prosecuted.